


Austin Adventure

by ScarlettEmber (EverAutumn)



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF, Ryan Haywood AU
Genre: Achievement Hunters, Austin Texas, F/M, Ryan Haywood AU - Freeform, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-27
Updated: 2016-12-24
Packaged: 2018-09-02 13:22:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 36,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8669287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EverAutumn/pseuds/ScarlettEmber
Summary: On hiatus until I can determine where this plot is actually headed.****"Excuse me, miss?""Sorry about that."Soulmarks, words or phrases that show on the skin either from birth or appear later when a perfect match is born. The messages that occupy the skin indicate the first words a soulmate speaks directly to their destined partner. Most pass-through life, never meeting their match, and there is no guarantee that those who do respond to their companion will pursue the match. Those lucky few who have bonded say it’s the closest one can get to paradise while on earth. Those who have met but refute the bond, intentionally or not, have said that they often think of what could have been.Evie Douglas- is a down-to-earth young adult with a newly earned teaching credential moving to Texas for a job.Ryan Haywood- is a father of two, who has just recently separated from his wife of seven years.Their words had been said so often that the excitement of hearing them had worn off. Both had given up hope of meeting their soulmate and had decided to live life without the expectation of a serendipitous meeting. So, what happens when a person says their words but there is no reaction from the other party?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Some names have been changed out of respect for the people originally included in this story. i.e. Ryan's family and any kids that are mentioned.

“Folks this is your captain speaking. As we start our descent, please make sure your seat backs and tray tables are in their full upright position. Make sure your seatbelt is securely fastened and all carry-on luggage is stowed underneath the seat in front of you or in the overhead bins. Thank you.”

Clouds scattered wistfully amongst the sky. Evie started to gather her belongings, making sure to check the backseat pocket, despite not putting anything in there. She was never a nervous flyer, but the Texas atmosphere had just enough hot air rising to make the last thirty minutes of her flight a living nightmare.

The fasten seatbelt sign dinged on followed by another announcement, “Flight attendants, prepare for landing please. Cabin crew, please take your seats for landing.”

Evie stared out of the window and looked around the surrounding area. [It was so green!](https://flic.kr/p/NvXPLx) She couldn’t believe it. The beautiful lush area surrounded by hills and lakes was a far jump from the image in her mind. Whenever someone would mention Texas, she would imagine a flat, dry, lifeless area; much like the desert surrounding Las Vegas.

The plane shook as its wheels hit the tarmac. Outside the window, the sun was bearing down on the moderately sized Austin airport. As the plane finally settled down on the ground, the pilot came over the loudspeaker with the usual announcement.

“Folks on behalf of the flight crew I would like to thank you for your patience this afternoon. I hope the delay didn’t cause too much inconvenience. It is a sweltering ninety-two degrees here in beautiful Austin, Texas. Please keep your seat belts fastened until the seat belt sign is off and the plane has come to a full and complete stop at the gate. At this time, you may use your cellular phones if you wish. We thank you for flying United Airlines and have a good rest of the day.”

After what was supposed to be a thirty-minute-turned-three-hour layover in Phoenix, she felt relieved to set down in her destination. She was thrust out of her thoughts by the captain once again. “Folks, I’m sorry about this, but it looks like we will be here for a while. Because of our delay, we lost our spot at our gate and are waiting for three other planes to taxi ahead of us. If you would please put down your shades so the aircraft can continue to stay cool, that would be appreciated. Once again, I am sorry for this inconvenience.”

Evie took one last wistful look out the small window and shut the blind. Since she didn’t know how long they were going to be stuck on the runway, she didn’t want to get anything out of her carry on. She settled with fidgeting with her phone, turning it over and over in her right hand. Grabbing the phone between her thumb and middle finger she proceeded to sling her phone until it hit her palm, then using her pinky and ring finger shifted her grip on the phone until she held the opposite end then continued her movements.

Focusing solely on her phone flipping, she failed to notice the burly man who had been sitting beside her pull out his phone and start a conversation. Her phone flipping faltered, Evie’s concentration broken by her row mate’s voice.

“No, I’m stuck on the runway.” She looked to her right, trying to be as discreet as possible. “No, I don’t know how long it will be.” The dirty blond ran his hand through his quaffed hair in frustration and continued, “I was going to ask one of the guys.” He paused to let the other person respond. “I never demanded anything! Jack had already said that he would drop me off if I needed him to, but you already told me you were going to so I could suffer at the kids party too!”

 _‘I shouldn’t be listening to this.’_ Evie thought. She focused her attention back to her phone hoping to distract herself from the obviously frustrated man. _‘I guess I should text Jim and tell him that I’m still stuck here_ _.’_ She sent a quick message and went back to fidgeting with the phone in her hand.

“Then just leave.” The man’s voice rose, “I’ll find another ride…I already thanked you for offering to pick me up…I wouldn’t miss it for any other reason, but it is physically impossible for me to be there right now…You can’t do that! They are my kids too.”

Now Evie felt awful about overhearing his conversation. She focused all her attention on untangling her headphones so she could tune out his conversation. It wasn’t right to eavesdrop on a personal conversation, especially one involving a stranger’s children. “The court gave us joint custody Brittny.” She was finally able to separate the ever-tangled headphones, plugged them in, and turned on the first thing she could; an old lecture she had stored on her phone from college.

“I better see you on my doorstep with Drew and Jessie on Friday.” The man sighed in frustration again and set his phone down on his knee almost violently, as if he wanted to throw the phone against a wall.

Evie was lost in her lecture, listening to her favorite college professor talk about some archeological evidence that supported the Platonian model of Christianity and how a Greek astronomer named Eratosthenes calculated the circumference of the earth in 240’s BC with only- “ ** _m_** ** _e,_** Miss ** _?_** ” Evie felt a tap on her right shoulder and jumped slightly in her seat. She lost hold of her iPhone, and watched in slow motion as it twisted and turned in the air before landed in the man’s lap. Pulling out her headphones and looking towards the man she quickly squeaked out a quick apology, **_"Sorry about that."_** She pulled on her headphones and quickly tugged the phone off his thigh and back into her possession. _‘What did he say before the tapped on my shoulder._ _It sounded like-,_ ’ She thought while she disconnected and rolled up the black wires.

“No, it's fine. I’m sorry I startled you.” His voice rumbled in frustration and slight embarrassment. He had no reaction to what she just said. _‘I guess he didn’t say them.’_ She felt an all too familiar ping of sadness and frustration at the lack of reaction to her statement. She pushed those feelings down as she always did. The unfortunate lack of reaction was all too typical with a common soulmark.

She took in his appearance for the first time. He had borderline brown hair with the most stunning blue eyes she had ever seen. His wide shoulders were almost too large for the seat. He was wearing an olive-green shirt under a partially open hoodie with some un-legible logo on the front of it. The jeans he wore could only be described as “dad jeans” which made Evie internally chuckle for some reason. 

Realizing that she had yet to respond to the man, she blushed and with a slightly flustered voice answered, “Um, what can I do for you?”

“Yeah, um…” his voice wavering for a moment. He didn’t seem like the type that liked to start up a conversation on a plane. “I’m sorry about this but could I use your phone? Mine is down to 3%, and I need to call an Uber to pick me up.” He ran his hand through his hair.

“Sure, that’s fine,” she said while opening the Uber app and logging herself out, “but didn’t Uber leave Austin over that whole fingerprinting debacle?”

“Shit, you're right.” He said in frustration.

“Here I downloaded these when I heard about it.” She exited the app and swiped over to a file labeled Austin Transportation. “Use one of these. They’re basically the same thing but its quote/unquote Austin approved.” She mimed air quotes, “It should get you where you need to go.”

He took the phone and smiled gratefully at her. “Someone’s prepared.” His voice was gaining a very subtle playful tone seemingly out of nowhere. Evie was stunned for a second. Was he flirting with her? Her heart jolted. The man beside her was certainly attractive, and Evie was a sucker for blue eyes. She replied with, “Hope for the best but prepare for the worst I guess.” 

“Good motto.” He opened one of the apps and scheduled his ride for an hour later.

“To further demonstrate my over-preparedness, could I offer you a portable phone charger? I even have a micro USB for your non-iPhone.” Evie shook her head slightly and moved towards her carry-on under the seat in front of her, ‘Could you be any more awkward?’, she thought to herself.

“Are you hating on the Android?” he replied the playfulness still evident in his voice. She responded with an equally playful maybe.

“That would be a life saver thanks.” She handed him the charger and cable. “Also, thanks for letting me use this,” he handed her back her phone which she took and immediately started to fidget with. “So, did this delay mess up your plans too?” he asked. “Not me. My plans are flexible, but I feel sorry for my ride.” She looked at her phone for a second remembering she needed to let Jim know she had landed.

“Have they been waiting here the whole time?”

“Oh god no. I told him back in Phoenix that the flight was delayed. He just has to drive an hour to come pick me up, so this uncertainty is more annoying than anything.”

“Oh, is he coming from Lockhart? He asked.

“I think Lockhart’s more south of Austin. He is coming from a freakishly small town called Kingsland about an hour east of downtown Austin. Though, I think Austin is the closest major city.” The man was about to respond when the piolet came over the loud speaker, “Folks I am sorry to say that we should be getting nice and comfortable here on the runway. It seems that we will be here for at least another hour…” at that point Evie and the man both looked at each other with equally frustrated glances.

The message ended with more apologies and the announcement that the drink cart would be coming around for complimentary beverages for the inconvenience. “Well looks like I need to text Jim… again.” Evie said to herself as she started to type out the message, missing the small frown on the man's face:

Evie: Well, it looks like I’ll be stuck on the tarmac for another hour. I’m sorry about this! :/

Above it she re-read the previous conversation making sure she let Jim know when she actually left, even though it wouldn’t matter now as she was still stuck on the plane.

Evie: So we have to change planes. We are just waiting on the replacement.

Jim: Just let me know what your revised time is for arrival.

Evie: I will

Evie: Our second plane just got here. They are doing a pre-check and then we can board.

Jim: Thanks

Evie: Okay doors are closed and we are taxiing now. I’ll see you in 2 hours and 30 min! :)

Jim: Thumbs up symbol

Evie smiled at Jim’s thumbs up before putting her phone in her lap with the screen facing down. Deciding, surprisingly, that she didn’t want this conversation to end, “Since we are going to be stuck here for a while,” she turned to the man and stuck out her right hand, “I’m Evie.”

The man took her hand, “Ryan, it’s nice to meet you.” His hand enveloped hers and her cliché heart palpitation happened again. “So, I hafta to ask; Evie is a nickname, right? Because I’m pretty sure that there is a Pokémon with that same name.” Evie let out a small chuckle, “You have no idea how much I get that now that Pokémon Go is about to drop. The Pokémon’s name has an extra E in it. It's EE-v-iE as opposed to my name e-V-ie.” She explained. “close but not the same. Evie is short for Everette. My parents are strange people.”

“Everett isn’t that strange. I have a friend whose wife wants to name their potential future son Boxcar Jesus.”

Evie didn’t know how to respond to that. “Boxcar…Jesus. Like straitup Jesus. Not Jesus like Hay-Zeus, but like the historical Hebrew-Joshua-Jesus.”

“Um… I think so?”

“Sorry, I minored in Christian Studies in college. Interesting but in no way practical.”

“That's fine it just took me by surprise. And yes, like Jesus Jesus.”

“Is she an artist?” she asked

“How did you know?” She chuckled softly, “Well a musician would have chosen something more renaissancey, a dancer will usually want something with a Russian or Italian origin, singers often choose something popular in this century, and artists like the more creative names.”

“You know from experience?”

“I had friends who were music and theater majors.” She said sheepishly, wishing she could remove her foot from her mouth and stop babbling.

Seeming to notice her discomfort Ryan changed the subject. “So, what's waiting in Kingsland?”

“I'm going to be staying with my friend and her parents for the fourth of July. After that, I'll be staying with her in Austin until I can find a place for myself.” Ryan shifted slightly in his seat.

“You're moving here?” Evie nodded her head with a smile, suddenly giddy at the realization. “You'll like it. Austin is a great city,” he paused, “and…you already have a friendly face if you need it.” She couldn’t believe it; she had made a friend!

“You don't know how much of a relief that is. It probably doesn't seem like it, since I started this conversation and all, but I don't make friends all that well. I’ve known the girl I'm staying with since preschool. We grew up on the same street; her house was number 2 and I lived number at 22, we even have the same name, well sort of.  We are both Rachel Everett; it’s just our names are spelled differently. Hers are spelled the way you would think to spell both names and mine is Rachael with an -aeland Everette with an extra e at the end. The whole thing is very strange and almost unbelievable, I know.”

“That's a little hard to believe.” 

“Oh, trust me, our parents thought it was bizarre too. That’s why I go by our middle name.” She gave a small shrug of her shoulders. “But she has been my only close friend since I can remember. I mean I had friends on the same team as me in high school and made some connections in college but never anyone I really enjoyed spending time with.” She looked away for a second. “Sorry, I’m usually a listener, not a talker. I may need help removing the foot that is currently lodged in my mouth.” She tilted her head slightly to the right and shrugged her shoulders.

“No, no, it’s fine. It's nice to hear about someone else’s problems for a change.” He reassured her after he ran his hand through his hair again.

“Yeah I couldn’t help overhearing your side of your conversation. Sorry about that.” She looked at her phone which just vibrated.

Jim: I’m about 30 minutes out.

Jim: Let me know when you have your luggage.

Evie: Kk I’ll let you know.

“If you ever want to talk about it, my ears are open.” She assured him. “So, to change the subject again, what do you do for a living?”

“Ah…Well, that’s a bit…You see…There isn’t really any way to make this sound cool.” He stuttered. “Oh, come on, it’s not like you’re a historian, right?” Evie chuckled.

“No,” he replied slightly confused, “I make videos on the internet.” Ryan finally told her after much coaxing. “In its most basic form, I play video games and post them on YouTube.”

“Huh, that’s interesting. So, you do- “she was interrupted by the flight attendant with the drink cart asking them is they wanted anything. Ryan spoke first “yeah I’ll have a diet coke.” The stewardess popped open a new can before pouring it into a plastic cup and handing it over the passenger on Ryan’s right who seemed to have fallen asleep again.

“And for you?” the woman asked Evie who responded, “I’ll have the same.” She looked to Ryan, “The real stuff tastes like cough syrup to me.” He replied that he thought so too. “Now,” continuing their conversation from earlier, “Tell me more about this video game gig. People actually watch other people play video games? Isn’t it more fun to play the game?”

“You would think, but people love it. Unlike a lot of other YouTube gaming personalities, I work for a company. It’s called Rooster Teeth.” He explained, “They make this machinima series,” he paused, looked at her, then decided that he didn’t need to explain what machinima was when she nodded for him to continue. “This machinima series called Red Vs. Blue.” Evie interrupted his explanation, “I remember watching that when I was in high school. Sorry, please continue.”  

He chuckled softly at her sudden excitement then continued. “That response was essentially my point. The Rooster Teeth fan base is incredible because they get so excited about everything. They are fiercely loyal, talented, and friendly. The community that Rooster Teeth has been able to amass is the only reason I have my job.”

“But I’m guessing that you didn’t go looking for a job playing video games, right?”

“Right, I was initially hired part-time, via a Craigslist ad, for an offshoot channel called Achievement Hunter. My boss Geoff, who happens to be sitting way up front there, had a bunch of ideas but not enough time to do them all. I was hired to manage one of the companies YouTube channels. Now my degree is actually in Computer Animation, so when RvB season 8 rolled around I was "loaned" to the production team for what was supposed to be 20% of my time.”

“But weren’t you meant to be part time? 20% of parttime is what an hour?”

“At some point, I was hired full time. Now RvB was supposed to be 20% of my time. It ended up being more like 200% RvB, so I was gone from Achievement Hunter for about six months. Once RvB finished we started Monday Let's Plays which I would usually setup and edit, and sneak in PC games when I can. I then became one of the main six gamers on the channel; the audience calls us the A team. I occasionally do video game news and voice acting things for the company as well.”

During his story, the plane started to slowly move towards the arrival gate. Soon the seatbelt sign was turned off, and everyone was gathering their belongings to get off the plane after an hour of waiting on the tarmac.

“Your life is infinitely more interesting than mine is,” Evie said as they both walked through the jet bridge.

“That can’t be true. You're moving to a new city that’s exciting. By the way, you never told me why you were moving here.”

Evie looked down to her phone and saw that Jim was there waiting in the phone area. “Well it seems my ride is here, so I’ll just have to leave you in suspense.” And with that Evie was off towards baggage claim leaving Ryan to watch her leave before turning to see the rest of the AH crew leaving gathering around the exit.

Evie gathered her belongings and headed for the baggage claim carousels.


	2. The Drive

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not too much Ryan in this one. I'm sorry, but another character just might make a quick appearance.

As soon as Evie left the terminal, she wished she said something else, anything else, to indicate that she wanted to see Ryan once she was back in Austin. She stood at the end of the baggage claim away from the gathered crowd and set down your carry-on bag so it’s out-of-the-way and no one would Tripp on it. She made sure it was within eyesight of her and that security guard shadow in the area saw her put it down and her staying close by.

A siren buzzed, indicating that the bags were about to be released from their captivity under the plane. Evie was so focused on the bags coming down the belt and onto the carousel that she didn’t notice the figure walking up to her.

“Evie.” She jumped at the deep voice and gentle hand on her shoulder.

“Holy shit Ryan! You scared the crap out of me.” Evie exclaimed in an exacerbated voice. A deep chuckle sounded before Ryan’s apologize for scaring her.

“I just came here to return this.” Ryan held out the orange and black external charger that she had loaned him back on the plane.

“Oh my God. I can’t believe I left that!” At that moment, she saw her bag making its way around the corner. Could you just put it in that red bag right over there in one of the side pockets? I have to grab my bag really quick.”

“Sure, no problem.” He sauntered over to her red bag on the ground and opened the zipper pocket, ignored the brown teddy bear stuffed in there, and put in the phone charger, and a surprise for Evie find later.

Evie returned with her bag in hand and started to gather her carry on and deposited it on top of her suitcase. “You're a lifesaver Ryan, really.”

_Jim: I’m right outside the baggage claim area_

_Evie: I'll be there in one second_

She waited for a second to see if he would do anything more before sticking her. “Ryan, it was very nice meeting you. It looks like my right here so I have to be on my way.”

“It was nice meeting you too. Make sure you look me up when you’re back in town.” Ryan said and quickly turned and approached his group of friends, call leagues, Evie wasn’t sure who they were exactly. She gave the disappearing figure a quick puzzled look. _‘I guess he just gave me permission to stalk him since I have no way of reaching him.’_ She thought.

Evie had to roll past the group in order to exit the baggage claim. In passing, she heard a higher pitched, almost whiny sounding, voice ask in a potentially fake outraged tone, “You didn’t even offer to take bags to her car! What kind of Gent are you?”

Evie took one last look around the baggage claim area at Ryan before turning to the exit. _‘Well, Evie you screwed it up once again.’_ She sighed in defeat.

The hot Austin air hit her as soon as the doors were sliding doors were opened. She had planned for the hot Texas air, deciding to wear her old gray Cal State Fullerton tank top and some black capris spandex pants with pockets to put her iPhone and wallet. Evie hated to wear purses or really anything over her shoulders. She could stand jackets and scarves, but backpacks, purses, and crewneck t-shirts could go straight to hell.

Not even two steps outside the baggage claim area, Evie saw her friend’s dad walking towards her. Jim was a relatively tall man, standing just shy of six feet. Anytime you saw him you could almost guarantee he would be in either slacks and a polo shirt, or a slightly oversized t-shirt with teal-green pineapple print swim trunks. Today it was the polo shirt.

“Jim!” Evie said excitedly opening her arms for a hug. “Hey, Rach, It’s good to have you here.” That was another thing, while everyone else called Evie by her middle name, Rae ’s family insisted on using her first name.

“It’s good to be here finally.” She replied as Jim grabbed her suitcase, and they both started walking towards the parking lot. “I can’t wait to see what the city is like!”

“You’ll love it Rach. Just wait until you see the lake house.” They crossed the thoroughfare at the crosswalk and continued to the cellphone pick up a lot. “I’ve been here for all of two minutes, and I already impressed! It's definitely hot but the heat isn’t as bad as I thought it would be, and it’s so green!”

“Hopefully you’ll get use to this gosh darn heat. I know its suppose to stay this hot for the rest of the week, but the lake will help.” Jim and his wife Sharon have had the lake house and had been inviting her along for as long as Evie could remember. At long last, she was finally able to go.

“So, Rach, are you excited to see Rae?” Jim asked as he helped Evie put her suitcase in the trunk.

Rae had taken a couple of years off school to travel before finally going to school in North Carolina and spending her summers in Austin working at her aunt’s bakery. It had been almost a year since they had seen each other.

“It’s going to be so great to see her again.” Jim started up the car, and they were off.

“She went to Carolina for a baby shower, right?” Rae would have picked her up personally, but she was visiting with their extended family in South Carolina. Rae was due back tonight but wouldn’t come in until 11:30 PM and Evie was scheduled to arrive at 1:50.

“She was at a christening. Rae is the godmother of Jack’s kid.” That was her oldest cousin. “Eva-Rose was getting baptized.”

“Gotcha.”

“So Rach, have you eaten anything yet?” Evie hadn’t eaten anything since she had taken off from California at 7:35 that morning. “We could stop by this fantastic barbecue place on the way. Just wait until you taste this, it’s amazing.” She looked at the time and saw it was 5 min till 3. “I could eat.”

“So tonight, we will be going to the Garett’s house for dinner.”

“Are these the people that Rae would tell me stories about? Cole and JT?”

“Those are the Stevens. You’ll probably meet them too. They tend to move in a pack.” They traversed the complicated highway system until they reached TX-71. “Hey, what would you say to a Starbuck right now? It will give you a chance to starch your legs, and it will be the last major shopping center until we get to Kingsland.”

After all these years of knowing her, he still thought she liked coffee. Evie know that he lived on the stuff just like Rae, so she went along with it.

After Starbucks, they traveled through the wonderfully green hills on a road that only intersected another every few miles. After 25 or so minutes of driving, Jim pulled off to the side of the road in front of a sign that said Opie's Barbecue. Evie stayed in the car as Jim when inside and ordered way too much food, and they continued their car ride. They spent the rest of their 30-minute car ride eating while Jim told her random facts about the landscape.

“Okay, we are about 10 minutes out. Oh, you’re going to love this Rach.” Evie loved spending time with Rae’s family. Jim and Sharron were like second parents to her growing up. The two spent every day with each other up until middle school when Rae decided she wanted a change of scenery and attended a different one, but they remained super close.

Looking out the windows, the vast green landscape was ever present as they approached the small town. As they hit the last intersection before Kingsland Evie noted the most striking differences between Orange County California and Texas were the street lights. All the streetlights she had seen had been sideways like at a race track, instead of the street lights being vertical with green at the top and red at the bottom. She even asked Jim if all the street lights in Texas were sidewise and he said that he didn’t notice them before.

After passing the fourth vineyard, one gas station, and to Evie enthusiastic surprise an alpaca farm, they finally turned onto Ranch Road from TX-71 and then on Market Road.

“Okay Rach here we go.” They trotted down the road Evie looking every which way in excitement. “So, all of that land to the left is owned by one family who will be turning it into a nature reserve once the patriarch of the family dies. On the right is a ranch. Every so often, in the mornings usually, you can see cattle walk right up to that fence.”

As their drive continued, she found herself noting all the differences between California and Texas. The trees are greener and more plentiful, the grass was longer, and the street signs were still sideways. She saw cactus next to Sequoia trees, rivers bigger than any she had seen before, and growing in the distance buildings that look like they could be some sort of town after all these hours of traveling.

“Okay, Rach before we get you to the house I want to show you the one streetlight in town." Evie looked at him in disbelief Shirley he was joking she thought. But Evie soon found out that Jim was dead serious. The town had a total of three intersections with the street lamp light. They had an H-E-B, a Dairy Queen, a Sonic, and a lot of homegrown small town businesses. After driving past that last stoplight they made a U-turn and at last, they were on their way to the lake house. Driving past the sonic turning left before they hit the Dairy Queen and driving past the H-E-B they finally made it to River Street.

Not even two minutes later they were turning into a driveway but wanting to a beautifully quaint white house. “All right Rach we are here.” Evie soon undid her seatbelt and opened her car door. She was so excited and relieved finally be at the house. She got to carry-on at her feet and her suitcase in the trunk and headed towards the door that Jim was opening.

Immediately upon opening the front door, Evie greeted by a fantastic view of a beautiful blue-green river surrounded by vegetation so didn’t look like a jungle. Step to the doorway Jim called to Sharon that they were back. The clamoring of three sets of paws met the pair. “Hi, boys!” Evie greeted the dogs with a high-pitched voice that was reserved for only the cutest of babies and puppies. “Did you miss me? I haven’t seen you in forever.” The two cockapoos jumped around her feet enjoy seeing their owners' friend.

“Rachael you’re here!" Evie looked up from the dogs to see Sharon approaching her with arms open. “I’m here! Finally! It’s so good to see you Sharon.”

“Hey, Sharon we have some leftover barbecue if you want any. We stop by Opie’s on the way here.”

Five doors framed down either side of the entrance hall which if he later found out what bedrooms a bathroom and the laundry room. The entrance hall leads into an open floor plan with the kitchen dining room and living room. The back wall of the structure consisted of two pane glass doors leading out to a porch and two pairs of windows on either side. “Set your stuff down in the bedroom and will take the boat out,” said Jim in his jolly voice.

Evie put her stuff in the room that she would share with Rae the next night. The room consisted of two pairs of bunk beds that of been in there since Rae and her sister were children. She quickly snagged the Wi-Fi password, put on a bathing suit, changed her shorts, and headed outside.

“Sharon, this place is unbelievable,” Evie called out as she walked off the porch down the hill and towards the boat. She paused as she stepped onto the grass to take a moment and observe everything around her. The air smells so clean, the sun, while still bearing down in Texas fashion, but warm against her skin, the river with the lives of families and college students here on vacation. Sharon was walking towards the next-door neighbors with Evie was behind her.

“Isn’t it. But before you head out let me introduce you to some of the neighbors.” Evie was introduced to the Wilson’s to the left, and the Clark’s to the right. She was assured that she would meet the others at dinner. As they approached approach the boat they were met by a childhood friend of Sharon who would also be staying with them through the fourth. “Hi Kathy my name is Evie, it’s nice to meet you.”

Three of them step foot on the dock watching Jim do all the hard work. “Well, ladies it’s just about ready. Why don’t Y'all hop in?” Evie and Kathy step carefully into the boat while Jim finished lowering it into the water. Sharon decided that she was going to stay inside. And within seconds they were backing up and off on an adventure down the river.

“So Evie,” Kathy asked, “ where are you from?”

“I’m from California same as these guys. I've actually lived right up the road from them since I was three. Rae and I've been best friends since preschool.”

“Have you ever visited before?” She asked.

Evie responded “this is my first time it’s in Texas. I’ve only been here for an hour at most, and I’m already obsessed.”

“Texas is pretty great. But why on earth did you pick the hottest time of the year to visit?” Kathy questioned like Evie was out of her mind.

Evie quickly fired back “It's a different kind of heat than I'm used to but, it isn't too bad.” It was completely out of character for her to enjoy any temperature above 75 degrees. “I’m actually moving down here for a job. I’ll be at the lake house for two nights, and then six more in Austin, then I fly back to California to finish packing my stuff, and then I make the drive back to Austin temporarily move in with Rae.”

“Where are you going to be working?” Kathy asked inquisitively.

“I got a teaching job at that new school community in Austin.”

“Isn’t that the  new performing arts school right off airport?”

Evie took a moment to respond trying to formulate the right way to explain where she was teaching. “Kind of. It’s a normal school, but it has these after school programs that are aimed towards developing fun and practical skills to help students get jobs after high school.”

The city of Austin had just built three new schools within sight distance of each other and elementary and middle and high school. The high school kids would be able to participate in after-school programs like shop classes, child care classes where the elementary and middle schoolers would be brought over, and the high schooler would keep them entertained or help with homework until parents were able to pick their child up, or performing arts classes.

“What are you going to teach?” Kathy asked.

I’m teaching world history to sophomores, and ancient Roman history as an elective to anyone who wants to take the class. But sixth and seventh-period color guard is going to be my favorite class to teach.” Evie saw the confused look on Kathy’s face. “It’s the people who perform at the halftime show with the marching band. They spin and dance with the flags, rifles, and sabers. They are used to enhance the show.”

“That sounds like fun!” Kathy responded. The boat ride was going smoothly. Everyone was so friendly on the lake. Whenever two people would pass each other, they would wave and give a polite how are you.

As it got later and the sun got lower, the sky filled with an amazing array of colors. Yellows pinks and oranges splashed throughout the sky contrasting with the dark water and green hills below.

“Wow Jim, this is beyond words!” Evie exclaimed. She couldn’t take her eyes off of that increasingly [orange sky](https://flic.kr/p/Pzbpst). Even as Jim navigated the boat back to the river bank, she stared at the magical sky. Once they were all back on dry land, Jim asked if she wanted to take the kayaks out early tomorrow morning before the river was busy. Against her better judgment, because she would still be on California time, she said yes. It would be nice to have a nice quiet relaxing morning before Rae arrived at the lake house.

As they walked onto the porch Evie announced she was going to take a shower before dinner that evening and step into her room her toiletries, towel, and change of clothes. As she went to take her yoga pants back out of her carry-on where she stuffed them earlier, they caught on and pulled out her external charger and a rectangular piece of paper.

Evie picked up what appeared to be a business card with a logo of a green star with what looked to be a joystick in the center of it surrounded by a black circle.

Upon further inspection, Evie found out that the card belonged to one James Ryan Haywood. On the back was a short note:

**_Don't keep me in suspense for too long._ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think!


	3. Relaxation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ryan's in this one!  
> The italicized words spoke or heard over the phone. If they have 'apostrophes' around them, it means they are thoughts.  
> 

**_There's just so much God damned weight on my shoulders_ **

**_All I'm trying to do is live my motherfu-_ **

 

Evie silenced her alarm and ground as she looked at the time. ‘ _It’s 5:37 in the goddamn morning,_ ’ she thought as she glared her alarm clock, ‘ _what the hell was I thinking. Stupid sleep app.’_ She begrudgingly willed her body out of bed. She grabbed her toothbrush and Adderall and headed, as quietly as she could, across the hallway to the bathroom. She closed the door and immediately took a swig of water from the faucet so she could take her meds. If she weren't trying to acclimate to the time change, she would never have taken the pills on vacation.

Evie scuttled back to her room to change out of her sports bra and workout shorts she wore to bed, then checked to see how she was doing on time. Since it was currently 5:49 and she knew Jim would be late as always, she grabbed her workout shoes and a new book and headed out to the porch.

“The Texas morning is nowhere near as pretty as the Texas evening,” Evie said out loud to herself. The sky was overcast, and the river was choppy with the morning breeze, but it was 69 degrees according to her phone. She shut the door behind her and sat curled up on the patio bench with her book Artemis of The Ephesians: Mystery, Magic and her Sacred Landscape. One of her old professors sent her a copy out of the blue one day, so she decided to take a look.

After 45 minutes of reading the porch doors finally opened and Jim stepped out in his fake crocks and pineapple swim trunks. “Sorry about that Rach. Hope you haven’t been waiting long.” He smiled and walked down to the dock while Evie followed. “So are you ready for our adventure.”

“Absolutely!” Evie enthusiastically replied as Jim helped her into the kayak. “Hey Jim, is there a life vest I can use?” She asked in unease looking at the water. Evie had always been nervous about natural water. Put her in a pool, and she was fine, to an extent, but stick her in the ocean or a river where she couldn’t reach or see the bottom, and she got nervous. She was a decent swimmer, but nature is unpredictable. She didn’t know how clean the bottom of the river was or if there were any sharp rocks to step on. She was over cautious, sue her.

“Here you go Rach, thanks for reminding me,” Jim said handing her the bright orange life vest before getting into his kayak.

“Now this will be a little different than the lake back home.”  The lake back home was this tiny man-made lake that was 4 feet at its deepest point. The river had a small offshoot about 50ft upstream from the lake house and to make matters even better they had to paddle against the wind. _‘I really should have kept up my spinning, I’ve lost all my upper body strength.’_ Evie thought as she looked up towards the branching stream. “Okay Just so you’re careful,” Jim said as they started to paddle, “make sure you watch where you’re paddling. I’ve seen snakes where we are going.”

“And you’re just telling me now!” Evie was internally screaming.

“What was that?” Jim yelled back not able to hear over the conveniently strong gust of wind.

“I said I'd be careful.” She replied. She started to focus on paddling and grumbled to herself, _‘Who the hell waits until they’re in the water to tell someone that there are fucking water snakes!’_

They got closer and closer to the alcove as the wind started to die down. She felt at peace just paddling along the river. The only things that could be heard were the gentle splashes of the oars atop the water and the strange buzz of nature that she noticed stepping out of the car the day before.

“Alright be careful coming around here, the water is starting to shallow out,” Jim called back as they entered the offshoot of the river. The water was still saved for the scattered ripples of fish going to the surface to snatch at flies. Evie trailed Jim by less than a foot now.

“Hey Jim,” Evie called out.

“What is it?” Jim replied.

“What are those black boxes just below the surface?” she asked pointing to a visible black rectangular box sitting barely and inch above the surface of the water. It had a small rectangular slit in the front of it, which Evie thought looked like it was filtering the water around it.

“Oh, those are bait boxes. They catch smaller fish to be used as bait for the larger fish.”

“Huh, interesting.” She noticed another one a few feet away, then another, and another.

“Okay, be really careful around here Rach, it's only about two or three feet here, and we don’t want to get stuck.” That made Evie nervous. Situations started blurring in her head. ‘ _What if I hit the sand bar and capsize? What if I step on a fish? What if I can’t get back into my kayak. What if all of that happened and then a water snake came by and bit me!_ ’

“Look Rach; it’s a turtle!”  Jim shook her out of her paranoid ramblings. She looked over, and there was indeed a small turtle poking its head out of the water. “Look there are a bunch of them!” She saw a group of five or six turtles around one of the bait boxes.

They continued their voyage for five more minutes and decided to head back so they could beat the boat traffic.

They exited the small alcove around 7:30 and saw that the river traffic was starting to begin so they had to be careful crossing to the other side. The current was in their favor, to an extent. The wind and water pushed them towards their destination, but they had to fight against the river again when they were guided too far.

Once they finally got their kayaks to the dock than out of the water and up the hill to drive, the pair made their way up and into the house. They were greeted by Sharon and Kathy in the kitchen.

Okay, guys!  How is the track?” Sharon asked as she scurried around the room.

“It wasn’t so bad,” Jim said closing the door behind him. “We missed the traffic in most of the sun.”

“It was so cool. We saw bunch and turtles, and a couple of different hearings. Oh, and we didn’t see any snakes.” Evie chimed in with relief.

“I was worried about that,” Sharon said. “Has anyone heard from Rae?”

“No, but I can text her to see when she’ll be down.”

“That’d be great, thanks.” Evie left the older adults and returned to her room. She grabbed her phone and settled down on the bottom bunk.

Evie: Hey Rae, What time are you planning to be down?

Rae : Ben and I will be down around 9.

Evie: Ben?

Evie: Oh, the other roommate right

Evie got up and walked over to the office chair by the foot of the bed. She started to swivel and fidget around. She looked at the business card on the desk. Ever since she saw it yesterday, her mind kept going back to Ryan. He occupied so much of her mind last night that she couldn’t remember dinner with the Garett’s. She remembered physically going there, but with her mind occupied elsewhere and her social awkwardness, she maybe said three things throughout the entire four hours they were at dinner.

She was thinking about Ryan. His steal blue eyes that she felt like she could get lost in, the utterly sexy stubble covering chin, his muscled arms. ‘ _Whoa Evie. You are in a house with your second parents in the next room…But that sexy voice.’_

**_You’ll be back; soon you’ll see, you remem-_ **

She was thankfully brought out of her thoughts by her Hamilton text tone. ‘ _I must have turned on the sound when I put it in my pocket.’_

Rae: So, how was your flight?

Evie decided to go back to the kitchen to tell Rae’s parents when she would be there.

Evie: I have so much to tell you when you get here.

Thirty minutes later the occupants of the house found themselves sitting down to eat breakfast when all of a sudden:

**_You’ll be back; soon you’ll see_ **

"Rach I think that's your phone," Sharron announced.

Evie went to reach in her back pocket for her phone, but it wasn’t there.

**_You’ll remember you belong to me_ **

“Does anyone see my it?

**_You’ll be back, time will tell_ **

"Is this it?" Kathy asked holding up Evie's iPhone 6s.

**_You’ll remember that I served you well_ **

“Yup, that’s it thanks!” Evie took her phone and looked at her message. “Um, Houston. I think we have a problem.” No one thought Evie’s joke was funny. “Excuse me for a moment.” She said pushing her stool away from the counter where they were eating.

She opened her phone app and pressed Rae’s speed dial. After 3 or so rings Rae answered. “So, your car won’t start?” Evie asked in a giddy voice.

* * *

 

Rae looked at the clock to see that it was 8:45. "Ben, are you ready?" She called out to her roommate.

“Yeah I ready. It’s not like I have a lot to bring. We’re only going for one night.” Ben said as he opened the front door.

“Alright, let’s go!” Rae said cheerfully. “I can’t wait for you to meet Evie! You’re going to love her.”

"Yeah, it should be cool." Rae turned the key to start her car, and nothing happened. 

"Well, shit." She tried it again. And again, nothing happened. “I knew I should have gotten that new battery.”

Rae: How do you charge a car

"Well, I just told Evie that we're going to be stuck here for a while," Rae called to Ben who was lifting up the hood of her Rav 4.

**_Agony!/Misery!/Woe!/Though it's different for each./Always ten steps behind-/Always ten feet below-_ **

“What the hell was that?” Ben asked.

“Oh, that's just our ring tone for each other," Rae replied as she went to answer her phone.

“Hey Evie, so we have run into a bit of a snag.”

“Why does that not surprise me?” Evie snickered.

“Hey! I was going to be early for once.” Rae pouted.

“Well, have you called triple A yet?”

“Ben was just about to.”

“Do any of your neighbors have any jumper cables? Ben can use his car to charge yours so you can get down here. If you call down here, then you can keep me company while we wait.” Evie really wanted Rae to get here so she could get advice on Ryan.

“That might work. One second.” She looked towards Ben. "Hey, can you go to the Packer's and ask if they have any jumper cables? I'm going to see if I can catch Ryan before he leaves." Rae started walking before Ben gave her an answer.

Rae saw his garage door opening and ran over to catch him before he left. “Haywood!” She called out forgetting Evie on the phone and stuffing it back into her purse. “Do you have a second?”

“You know your joke isn’t funny right.” Ryan had to comment on his neighbor’s use of his last name as a greeting.

"I know, but I can't help it." She justified. "So, do you have a second?"

“Yeah, but only a second. I have to go into work for a couple of hours.” He replied.

_Evie could hear the muffled conversation through the phone. ‘Did she just say Ryan Haywood.’ Her hand unconsciously reached for her shoulder blade where her words were._

“Do you have any jumper cables? My car’s dead and we are trying to get to my parents.” She asked Ryan, completely unaware of the anxiety Evie was feeling on the other end of the phone in her purse.

“Oh Sure. I have some around here somewhere.” Ryan shuffled about his garage.

_Evie could hear the deep voice resonate throughout her body despite the interference from the fake leather surrounding the receiver. Her heart started to beat faster, and she felt like she needed to sit down. She moved over to the bottom bunk and laid there with her arm covering her eyes while still managing to touch the inky perfection that was her soulmark. With her phone by her ear, she focused on her breathing and Ryan’s smooth voice._

Ryan felt a strange twinge in his chest as he moved a box out of the way to reach the spare wires. He brushed off the pain and handed the cables to Rae, “Here you go.” He said with a feigned smile. “Do you need a jump too?” Ryan asked.

"No, we're going to use Ben's car," Rae answered.

“Why aren’t you taking his car to your folks?

"We are bringing someone back with us and the Mustang isn't really suitcase friendly."

"Ah, that makes sense."

“Thanks for the cables Ryan! I’ll let you get going off to work. Try to actually enjoy the 4th okay?” Rae turned without waiting for a response and walked back over to her car.

“New roommate. What’s that about?” Ryan wondered out loud. He decided not to think too much about it and got into his car. The pain in his chest lessening as he reversed his car out of the driveway and started towards Stage 5. 

* * *

 

_Evie was finally able to control her breathing. She had hung up immediately after Rae mentioned she was bringing a friend back to their house. It made no sense why she was so anxious when thinking about Ryan. ‘He didn’t say anything about you saying his words. He didn’t even react. I guess I’m just not meant to find my other half.’_

_She sent Rae a text to tell her when she and Ben were on the road before reporting back to the trio in the kitchen and finishing her breakfast._

_After clearing the plates off, Evie decided to lay out on the patio again and take a quick nap before Rae arrived._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you think!


	4. Rae Arrives

_It was 6:20 and She stood in the kitchen making breakfast and lunch for her family, while her husband was waking up the kids. He didn’t have to be at work until nine, but He woke up early to help her with the rugrats. She packaged the kids’ sandwiches in their lunch box and threw in some apple slices and some trail mix along with a little bottle of water and zipped them up._

_As the toast popped out of the toaster, little feet could be heard running around upstairs followed by two more sluggish strides. She had just put out the jam and toast, orange juice, and cereal when He yelled “No running near the stairs!” followed by the giggles of a little girl._

_He came into the kitchen with the jubilant girl over his shoulder and the little boy trailing behind him. The boy sat quietly in his seat after giving Her a hug, and He put the squirming girl down who then proceeded to run over and give Her a hug as well. “Morning Mama!” the little girl said giving her mother the biggest smile. “Morning baby!” The child hugged her mother’s stomach gently like she was told to, so she wouldn’t hurt the baby. The giggling girl then bounced over to her seat and began eating like her brother._

**_“Excuse me, Miss.”_ ** _She looked at the man who went to stand next to Her by the counter. “Morning stud.” She said in a slightly teasing manner giving him a hug good morning._

_“Morning Darlin’,” He smiled and swooped in for a quick, chaste, kiss. They could hear childish sounds of disgust coming from the kitchen table, to which She responded by turning to face the kids and childishly sticking out her tongue at them. She and her husband sniggering softly._

_His arms wrapped around her so he could rest his hands on the small baby bump that was starting to show. Her shoulders lined up with His chest, and she could feel the heat and beating of his heart on her shoulder blade as He buried his face in her hair. “Did you both sleep well?” He asked._

_“Yes, yes we did.” She replied leaning into his embrace while keeping her eyes on the children._

* * *

 

The scene started to fade.  

 _“Ev-”_ Evie felt something on her arm and sluggishly turned to her other side, burying her face into the cushion that she was using for her pillow. _“E-ie”_ She shifted trying to get comfortable again. “Evie, Everette!”

‘Why won’t it stop?’ She asked herself finally rousing herself from sleep to deal with that incessant poking sensation on her arm.   

“Rachael Everette Douglas!”

Evie quickly rolled back over onto her right side to yell at the voice. “What d-!” The momentum of her roll mixed with her semi-groggy state soon found Evie falling face first towards the ground. Her right foot hooked through the arm of the couch desperately, but ineffectively, trying to keep her from meeting her destined fate with the porch. Her right came up attempting to cover her face. She broke her fall with her left forearm and knee, making sure to avoid putting any stopping pressure on her wrist.

“Fudging, fudgy MacFudge face.” Evie groaned.

“That’s some interesting vocabulary you have there.” A hand appeared by her face to help her up. She took it and untangled her leg from the couch before standing up. She was met with a man no older than 23 with curly shoulder length dirty blond hair.

“Thanks,” She said to the man who helped her up. Rae was laughing so hard that she had to lean on the bench Evie just fell off of for support. “Rae’s parents are here.” She continued.

“Huh?” He asked.

“Rae’s parents are here, and they don’t appreciate cursing. That’s why I said fudge instead of the more appropriate word. I'm staying at their house, so I don’t want to make them uncomfortable by, um, expanding my vocabulary.” She explained. “You must be Ben. I’m Evie.”

“It’s nice to meet you, roomie.” They shook hands.

“Hey Rae, are you done dying over there?” Evie asked as Rae recovered from her laughing fit.

“Yeah,” she gasped, “Yeah I’m done.”

“Good. Damn that hurt.” Evie complained. She looked down at her knee that was still stinging. “Oh, great.” Blood was starting to drip down her leg from her knee.

“Dude, are you okay. Oh my god, if I knew you were hurt I wouldn’t have laughed.” Rae fussed.

“No, yeah, I’m good.” She said starting to limp towards the door. “Can you grab me a Band-Aid or something?”

Rae ran in front of her and held the door open while calling out to her mom. “Hey mum,” Evie had no idea why she said mum, she was as British as Uncle Sam was. “do we have any Band-Aids?”

Evie hobbled over to the sink and proceeded to wet some paper towels to wipe off her leg. “If you don’t have any, there are some in my suitcase.” Evie set her phone on the counter before hopping up on the high chair and crossing her left leg over her right to get better access.

“No, why? Who got hurt?” Sharron’s voice called from her room.

"I just got a little scratch, Sharron. Nothing to worry about. I have some in my bag.” Evie called back. "Just go in my bag, not the carryon, and in the zipped pocket on the left there should be a first aid kit in there." She told the two hovering around her. Ben left to find the kit leaving Rae and Evie alone in the kitchen.

Evie saw the time flash on her phone before it went to standby. “It’s already 10:15! How long have you been here?” She asked.

"Oh, only about 20 minutes. There wasn’t any traffic going through Austin, miracle that was.” Evie felt better about sleeping so long. “So, when are you going to tell me about the business card on the desk.” Evie froze mid wipe before quickly finishing her task and pressing a dry towel on her knee.

“You saw that, did you?” Rae nodded her head smugly. “That belongs to a guy I met on the plane from Phoenix.”

“Potential relationship material?” She asked in an assuming voice.

“No. Yes. Oh, I don’t know.” Evie groaned and put her forehead on the countertop. "I'm so confused." She remembered back to the dream she had, hoping to burn it into her memory before her mind decided to delete it. 

“How? A hot guy gave you his number, so you call it.” Ben walked back into the room holding the first aid kit.

"Well, I can see that I don't belong in this conversation. I'm going to go take a look around outside." He handed Rae the First aid kit and bolted outside.

"I wish I could escape this conversation too," Evie mumbled.

“What was that.”

"Nothing." Evie quickly retorted. She took the red pack from her friend and took out the Neosporin and some sports band-aids that were supposed to be able to stick to the skin through sweat and were water proof.

“So, you never answered. How is a guy giving you his number a bad thing?” Rae prodded.

Evie finished bandaging up her knee and sighed “I think he said my words.”

“Wait what! He said your wor-”

“Shhhhhh. Not so loud." Evie interrupted. "I said I THINK he said my words; I have no idea is he did or not." Evie looked around before hopping off the chair and cleaning up the bandage wrappers. "Let’s go into the bed room. If your parents hear us talking, they’re going to want to meet him.”

They both shuffled into the room and closed the door behind them. Evie took a seat on the swivel chair while Rae laid down on the bed propping herself up with her elbows.

“As I was saying,” Evie continued, “I don’t know for sure if he said my words because I had my head phones in. All I heard was him saying, Miss, before I freaked out and threw my phone at him."

"Well, that's a nice way to meet your soulmate. ‘Hi nice to meet you. Have you seen the iPhone 6 yet? No, you haven't well here.'" Rae made a throwing motion.

“Ha-ha, very funny. So anyway, I apologized for chucking my phone at him and he just continued the conversation. After we had exited the plane, I went on my way. I only have his number because he slipped it into my bag." Evie paused to pick up the business card and swivel in her chair. “Even before I found this last, I couldn’t stop thinking about him. You, by the way, interrupted a very nice dream.”

"So, you're having dreams about him," Rae said slyly.

“It was nice. I was making lunch for all of us and he was getting the kids out of bed.” As Evie explained the dream to Rae , her hand found its way to her shoulder blade again. "Rae this wasn't a sex dream, that I can deal with. Lust is a concept I can understand but the like of love I felt in that dream. I'm scared. What if I get my hopes up for nothing?”

"Sometimes you just have to go for it, kid."

"I just came to terms with the fact that I wouldn't ever meet my soulmate. After years and years of people saying, ‘excuse me, Miss,' and being devastated every time they didn’t react to my response.” Evie trailed off.

“Just answer me this.” Rae softly demanded, “If you had the opportunity to see him again, would you take it?”

"Rae, I honestly don't know. And what if this is real. What If I did say his words, but he didn't react because I didn't react? I don't think I know how to be loved like that." She started swiveling in her seat to sedate some of the misplaced energy. "Just think about it. I've never been in a successful relationship! My parents didn't want me; My adoptive parents all but kicked me out when I was 18, Sure, it was to make sure I knew how to survive in the world, but we still don’t talk like we use to. I don’t think I even told them that the reason I’m moving is because I got a job. I have maybe two friends, including you, and we only ever talk to each other in person. I've always had school and at least two jobs that occupied my time. Any free time I had for social interactions were used studying. I didn't make one connection in college with someone who wasn't a professor. Fuck, I've never even had a boyfriend. I’ve never even been kissed!” 

“Evie! Calm down! I will not hesitate to slap you.”

“Sorry.” She took a few deep breaths. “I…It’s just…I’m scared. What if I do something wrong and he hates me? What if he doesn’t trust me enough to be a part of his life? I’ve been fine on my own for years, so why does it hurt to think about a future without anyone now?”

“I can’t answer that for you. Now at the risk of sounding like a soap opera, I can say that if you don’t start putting yourself out their now, you are going to miss all sorts of opportunities you wish you hadn’t. Weren’t you the one who told me that the only way we can enjoy life is by persevering though the scary shit?”

“Danger can never be overcome without taking risks. It’s an old Latin proverb. Thomas Jefferson wrote ‘The most fortunate of us, in our journey through life, frequently meet with calamities and misfortunes which may greatly afflict us’.”

“Strip that down to its basic form and you have…” Rae prompted.

“There is no reward without risks.” Evie smiled a slightly. “Fine, when we get back to Austin I’ll call him.” She decided.

“Awesome, now go talk to Ben. You’ll be rooming with him too so you should at least get to know him.”

“You’re not coming?”

“Not right now. I have some things I need to take care of for this summer class I’m taking.” Rae insisted.

“Okay see you soon.” Evie walked out the door.

Rae took this opportunity to find her parents. “Hey mom, dad, I have a favor to ask…”

* * *

 

A few minutes later Evie came back in to change into her bathing suit. “Are you sure you don’t want to come on the boat?” She asked Rae who just responded “I’ll be done with this in half an hour. Let’s take the jet ski’s out then kay?”

“Okay then.” Evie covered her bikini with her Mötley Crüe shirt and her American flag shorts because ‘Merica and placed her phone on the bed and plugged it into its charger. “I’ll see you when I get back.”

As soon as Rae heard the back door close she got up and grabbed Evie’s phone. Part one of the plan was complete. Her Dad got Evie out of the house. Rae walked over to the business card on the desk and then returned with it to the bed where Evie’s phone was charging. _‘She really needs to change her password,’_ Rae thought as she pushed 3-8-4-3. She found the phone app and typed in the number from the card. _‘Seriously you shouldn’t use your name to unlock your phone.’_ She put the phone up to her ear and waited.

_“Hello Ryan Haywood’s phone, Jeremy speaking.”_

_“Hello there, I'm looking for Ryan. This is his next-door neighbor. My name is Rae Riley.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like always, please tell me what you think!


	5. Decision

***brrrrring-brrrrring***

“Ryan your phone is ringing.” Jeremy, the Achievement Hunter with the best beard ever, called out to Ryan. Jack was currently sitting at Ryan's computer, who was using Jack's computer to film the most recent Let’s Play.

“Who is it?” Ryan replied.

He was currently engaged in an epic battle of Uno with; Geoff, the man with an incredible amount of tattoos, Jack, the teddy bear of a man with the best beard in the company, and Gavin, the British man-child with the impressively weak stomach.

“How the fuck should I know?”

***brrrrring-brrrrring***

Jack played a green two then Gavin put down a green 5, Ryan placed a yellow 5. "God damn it, Ryan," Geoff said as he had to draw five cards until he got a yellow skip. `

"Well, what's the name on the screen?" Ryan asked sardonically.

“It’s just a number. What area code is 949?”

***brrrrring-brrrrring***

“Jeremy you're holding up the game," Geoff yelled.

"Isn't that California? Just answer it, Jeremy." Ryan played a green draw two and Geoff. "Did one of the Funhaus guys get a new number?"

 _"Hello, Ryan Haywood’s phone, Jeremy speaking,"_ Jeremy answered. “You know what Jack, here you go," Ryan said as he put down a skip card causing the game to move past Geoff and make it Jack’s turn. “ _One moment Ma’am,"_ Jeremy said after a moment’s pause. “Ryan so you know a woman named Rae Riley?”

“Piss off you plebs.” The British man yelled as he received four stacked draw two cards.

“Oh yeah. Jeremy tag in really quick.” Ryan and Jeremy switched places.

Gavin started to narrate the scene, “Ryan and Jeremy have just switched places, and now Ryan is on the phone.”

"Ryan, what are these cards?" Jeremy cried looking at Ryan’s all yellow and red hand.

“Jeremy who is he talking to?” Geoff asked in his naturally lazy voice.

 _“Hey Rae, I take it you and Ben made it to your folks alright?”_ Ryan asked as he answered the phone, ignoring Gavin’s play by play for the moment. 

"Ryan's talking to a girl," Jeremy said in a teasing voice.

“Ryan’s taking to a girl that’s not Meg or his Ex-Wife?” Geoff said astounded and then played a wild card to change the color to blue.

 _"Yeah, we did thanks. Your jumper cables are in our garage. I can either give you the code so you can get them yourself or you can wait a day, and I'll send over my new roommate."_ Her voice laced with mischief.

“Ryan is now pacing back and forth while talking to a girl.” Gavin continues his narration.

  _“No that’s fine. I wouldn’t want to inconvenience her on her first day in town.”_ Ryan responded. “He doesn’t want to inconvenience her.” Gavin said in his gravely “tease it” voice. _“You can just give me the code, and I'll grab them myself."_

“He will grab it himself.” Gavin had all but stopped playing now, focusing most of his attention on Ryan’s phone call.

 _“Actually, on second thought, let’s just wait for us to get home so she, I mean we, can give you the cables in person.”_ Rae insisted.

_“I’ll bite. Why do you want this new roommate to meet me?”_

“He is meeting the roommate.” Gavin suddenly shouted.

 _“Let’s just-”_ Rae started

“Gavin, will you shut up!” Ryan yelled back at Gavin. _“Sorry about that. My co-worker doesn’t know when to stop talking.”_

_“Oh, no problem. I was just going to say that sending her over will be my way of thanking you for being such a good neighbor.”_

_“Umm. Are you offering a hooker?”_ The entire room stopped what they were doing and stared at Ryan. _“Not that there is anything wrong with that, but I uhh, I’m not that kind of guy.”_ Everyone, even Rae on the other side of the receiver burst into laughter. Ryan slumped his shoulders in slight embarrassment.

“Audience, Ryan just got offered a hooker!” Gavin gleefully reported before returning to their game.

"Not only did he just get offered a hooker; he just turned down the hooker!" Jack chimed in. Ryan glared at the group.

 _“Oh my god Ryan.”_ She spoke between bursts of laughter, _“I can’t wait to tell Evie,”_ another pause for laughter, _“you thought she was a hooker.”_

 _“Who?”_ Ryan started. _“What’s going on here?”_

_“Haha wow, that was great. You just asked if I was buying a hooker for you.” Her laughter quieted down._

“Hey Ryan, ask how much.” Geoff continued with the taunting before returning to the Uno game as well.

 _"Well, that's what is sounded like,"_ Ryan said flipping Geoff off.

 _"No, no,” she sighed. “Ryan, you have my number in your phone, right?”_ Rae asked.

" _Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything?"_

 _“Well if I’m not mistaken, that means that I’m using someone else’s phone to call you with.”_ She paused again to see if he would get the hint.

 _“So, what? You called my phone from your parents?”_ Ryan asked slightly aggravated.

 _“I don’t know how to break this to you,” she paused, “but I don’t have your number memorized.” Ryan huffed in in annoyance. “Sorry about that.”_ Ryan audibly seized up immediately, his heart skipping a beat. _“Okay that was kind of a low blow on my part, but think carefully. Is there anyone you gave your number to recently?”_ The smugness evident in her voice. Ryan’s right hand subconsciously moved to his heart, settling over the words that stained his skin: _Sorry about that._

 _“Evie,”_ He tried to form words, _“She’s your new roommate?”_ His voice took on a lighter tone.  

“Isn’t Evie that girl from the plane?" Jeremy asked the group who had decided that Ryan's conversation was more important that the Uno game they were currently playing. With the game and their recording now paused, they gave their full attention to the man on the phone.

_“Small world ain’t it.”_

_“Yeah I guess it is.”_ Ryan’s hand pressed harder against his mark.

“I really want to know what they’re talking about!” Gavin whined.

 “Can’t you tell!” Geoff whisper-yelled, “That chick from the airplane is going to be moving in with Ryan’s neighbor!”

“How do you know that?” Gavin asked.

“His neighbor’s name is Rae," Jeremy answered.

“What?” Gavin replied 

“He literally told us that this morning. He was all like ‘Sorry I’m late guys. I was helping my neighbor with her car.’ And then Geoff was like, ‘is that code for your neighbor gave you a blow job?’ And Ryan was all offended and like ‘I wouldn’t even consider asking Rae for a blow job. She watches my kids!’ Then that started the whole discussion of sleeping with babysitters.”

_“Now, I really wanted to ask you if you had any plans for today.”_

_“Well I’m at work until 2:30 today, but after I was planning a quiet day at home. Do you need me to lock up your house or something?”_ Ryan replied confused.

_“I was actually wondering if you would like to spend the 4th here at the lake house? We have plenty of room, and you'd get to see Evie again.”_

_“Can,”_ he cleared his throat, _“can I call you back with an answer. They just called me in for a conference._ ” Ryan stammered.

"We did no such thing!" Geoff screamed.

The look Ryan gave him would freeze the seventh circle of hell. If Rae heard Geoff, then she didn’t say anything. _“Sure Ryan, take all the time you need.”_

_“I’ll get back to you soon.”_

_“Alright, talk to you soon, just make sure to call my number when you make your decision.”_

_“Evie doesn’t know about this, does she?”_

_“Nope, I’m considering this an early birthday surprise. Oh, and Ryan.”_

_“Yeah.”_ He replied in a soft voice.

 _“Evie hasn't stopped talking about you."_ There was a click, and the line went dead.

Ryan stood unwaveringly, his hand still on his chest. “Ryan, are you going to be okay?” Jack put his hand on your shoulder. Ryan didn’t notice anyone move.

“Yeah, Yeah I’m fine.” The rest of the room erupted in questions.

“Fine! Why did you get out off the phone!” Geoff screamed.

“Why do you need to get back to her?” Jeremy asked.

"What the toss is going on?" Gavin asked confused.

“Shut the hell up!” Ryan screamed as he lowered himself into a chair. He sighed, “Okay, one at a time. Jack, go.” He ran a hand through his hair.

“What was that phone call about?”

“My Neighbor called to thank me for helping her with her car this morning and to invite me to her parent's lake house for the 4th of July party. Next, Jeremy.”

“What does the girl from the airport have to do with this?”

“Coincidentally, Evie is Rae’s new roommate. She told me they grew up on the same street as kids; they even have the same name. I never thought to make the connection." Ryan answered. How could he be so stupid? His neighbor who just happened to have the same name from her story, who just happened to have parents with a lake house.

 ‘ _No, wait why would I ever think to make that connection,'_ the logical part of his brain argued. _"_ _That would be like assuming the next person I meet on a plane knows my other neighbor. There was no real reason to make the connection. I didn’t know where the lake house was, that Rae was getting a new roommate, I didn’t even know Rae was out of the state!’_

"My turn, right?" Geoff said interrupting Ryan's internal soliloquy. Ryan nodded and said, "Go ahead."

“Why are you even thinking about this?”

"It's complicated."

"Bull shit it's complicated. You obviously seem to like this girl.”

“But-” Geoff interrupted.

“No buts. You were just offered the chance to spend the day with the first chick you have taken an interest in since Britt, and you need to think about it! Is she ugly?”

“No. Its-”

“Is it the jet lag?”

“No Geoff. List-”

“Did you catch something in California?”

“SHE SAID MY WORDS!” Ryan couldn’t take it anymore.

“She what?” This time it was Gavin.

Ryan took a deep breath in and out before speaking. “She. Said. My. Words.” He Emphasized every word.

“Well that’s great, isn’t it? She said your words, so why are you not rushing down there now?” Jack the optimist asked.

“She said, my words. But she didn’t react when I spoke to her. She didn’t even acknowledge it.”

“But you still feel a pull?”

“Yes.”

“Okay let’s go over this from the beginning. You didn’t see her until you got on the plane to Austin, right?”

“Yes, she was on the LA to Phoenix with us, but she was stuck in the very back.”

“What was she wearing?” Jeremy asked.

“Why is that important?”

“I hung out back there waiting for the bathroom. I want to see if I saw her.”

"She was wearing a gray Cal State Fullerton tank top and black yoga pants that went down to her calves." Ryan paused to look at Jeremy who motioned for him to continue. He started to smile as he continued. “She has deep brown hair with light brown and honey blond streaks; it goes just past her shoulders. Her eyes are the most gorgeous dark brown you have ever seen, and when she smiles, she had the biggest dimples.”

“Anything else?”

“She has a tattoo of date surrounded by stars and maple leaves on her left shoulder.” Ryan’s smile grew wider just talking about her.

“Did she have black glasses and a red carry-on?”

“Yes, she did.”

“I saw her sleeping on the plane. She was using a teddy bear as a pillow.” Jeremy and Ryan chuckled. “She was kind of adorable curled up in her seat, holding tight to her teddy bear.” Ryan could just imagine.

"Okay while that was incredibly sweet, let's fast forward to when you first sat down next to her," Geoff complained.

“We didn’t say anything to each other until we landed. My phone was about to die, so I asked her if I could borrow hers.”

What did you say to her?”

“I said ‘ _Excuse me, Miss?’_ and she jumped and…” Ryan trailed off.

“And what?” Geoff urged him to continue.

Ryan stayed silent. ‘ _How could I be so stupid?’_

“And what? Finish your sentence!” Gavin yelled

“She was wearing headphones. I said ‘Excuse me, Miss,' she jumped and threw her phone at me, then dragged her phone back to her by her headphones. She took them out of her ears and then said, ‘Sorry about that,’ to which I replied, ‘No, it's fine. I’m sorry I startled you.’”

“Wait, what did you do when she said your words?” Jack asked.

“I’m an idiot. I just assumed that she wasn’t mine when she didn’t react to what I said, so I just continued the conversation.” Ryan groaned and put his head down on the desk.

“You moron!”

“Geoff, you don’t understand! Do you know what it’s like to have words said so often that you have to force yourself to ignore when they’re said? Most people can count the times their words are said on one hand, but not me. My words are ‘Sorry about that.' I’m sittin’ here dreading the next moment my words are said because chances are I won’t say their words back. It starts to eat away at you until you can’t do anything but wallow in your own self-pity.” Geoff shut up. “Do you know what it feels like to be utterly eviscerated every time three tiny words are spoken.”

“Ryan, think of how” Jeremy paused for a moment trying to remember her name. “she feels.”

“Evie.” Ryan supplied. “It’s actually Rachael Everette, but she likes being called Evie.”

“Oh my dicks, could they be any more perfect for each other.” Geoff interjected, “they both go by their middle names, seriously.

“Okay think of Evie. You said the first thing you said to her was ‘Excuse me, Miss.’ Right?” Ryan nodded, “So just think of how many times her words have been said.” He froze.

“Do you really want her to think that she is alone.” Jack had a good point, and that made Ryan feel even worse. “I bet she is just as hung up on you as you are on her so why don’t you go.” 

Ryan picked up his phone started to dial Rae’s number.

“Oh and Ryan, take the rest of the day off. You’re only missing like three hours of work. In fact, if you show up to work before lunch time tomorrow I’m docking your pay.” Geoff gave him a strong pat on the back and a not so gentle shove out the door.

Ryan rushed out of the office to his car, keeping his phone to his ear and climbed in. 

_"Well, that didn't take long."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know if this chapter is too confusing.


	6. The Meeting

“Oh, would you look at that, it’s an Alpaca farm,” Ryan noted as he drove. He was just 10 miles from the small town of Kingsland, and potentially one the most important moments of his life, right after the birth of his children. As he got closer to his destination, he thought about his conversation with Rae.

 

* * *

 

_"Well, that didn't take long."_

_“What am I doing? This doesn’t make any sense!” Ryan complained as he drove home. “I talked to Evie for all of one hour; and now I'm about to drive 70 miles in Austin traffic to stay in a house owned by my next-door neighbors’ parents for a chance to talk to a girl that could or could not be my soulmate, that just so happens to be my new next door neighbor that I could just talk to tomorrow.”_

_“Did you get that out?” Rae responded._

_“I don’t know her age, where she grew up, hell I don’t even know her last name. What makes this alright?”_

_“Ryan first of all, breath,” and he did. “Now think of Evie,” which he did as well. He thought about her smile, the way she seemed to over explain things, the way she silently laughed like she didn’t want to disturb the people around her but still wanted to enjoy whatever she found funny. He thought about how her babbling would lead to the most random of places like how Salmon P. Chase was on the $10,000 bill, and how she took a genuine interest in his work._

_“Now tell me what your feeling,” Rae requested._

_“I feel peaceful, like all my decisions in life have led up to this. I’ve only felt this way two other times, and that was when my children were born. I don’t know how to described it, but it’s, just, right.”_

_“Now are you still questioning your decision?”_

_“No.”_

_“Okay, now what we’ve taken care of that, you will need to bring a swimsuit, a change of clothes, and something to sleep in” Rae instructed._

_“Are you sure it’s okay for me just to show up?” Ryan asked. He didn’t want to ruin their celebration._

_“Please, When I told my parents that you were alone for the 4th of July, they all but demanded that I invite you over. Although I must warn you, you’ll probably be sleeping on the couch with Ben. No guys in the girl’s room and all that.”_

_“That’s fine. I doubt I’ll be getting much sleep anyway.” Ryan arrived home and quickly packed his things and was out the door in 5 minutes. “I'm on my way right now. I just need the address.”_

_“I’ll text it to you. Have a safe trip, and we’ll see you soon,” Rae hung up the phone._

* * *

 

He turned onto Market St. and then on River St. He continued driving until he reached house number 7296.

He had stopped by HEB before he got too far from civilization to get two bottles of wine, a red and a white, for the hosts. He had no idea what to get since he didn’t drink and needed to ask a woman who was also buying wine. He sent a quick text to Rae letting him know that he was here.

Ryan: I'm here.

He gathered all his things together and locked up his car as the front door opened. He saw Rae standing there motioning for him to come inside while trying to keep two rambunctious dogs at bay. 

“Welcome partner,” Rae said with a fake southern drawl.

“Howdy their sugar,” He said letting some of his inner Georgian show. “Looks like you could use some help with the dogs.”

“Just move your feet.” He quickly entered the house as Rae released the dogs. “So how was the drive down?”

“It wasn’t as bad as I thought. Getting out of Austin was a mess, but that was too be expected, then trying to get into town was frustrating but I made it, and it's only 1:30 PM.” They walked further into the house. “Now where should I put everything?”

“You can stash your belongings in the bedroom, second door on your right. And I’ll take these.” Ryan walks into the bedroom, “My parents are going to love these.” He heard Rae say.

He put his belongings down by Evie’s and was about to turn and leave when he saw the teddy bear she had stuffed in her carry on, on the desk in the room. He moved towards it and saw that his business card was sitting in the bear's lap. He chuckled and walked out the door.

“Okay now that you have everything settled let's meet the folks.” Rae led him to a pair of back doors that led to a gray patio. The deck was decorated with a glass table, probably for parties like the one tonight, to the left along with two black deck chairs with green and white striped cushions. To his right was an identical set of chairs facing towards another, smaller, table in front of a couch that matched the chairs. There were two blond women sitting on the sofa enjoying the shade, watching the river traffic. On was holding a small white poodle while the other was chattering away about the “old days.”

“Ryan this is my mother Sharron,” Rae gestured to the woman with the small dog.

“It’s nice to meet you, I’m Ryan Haywood. Thank you for opening your home to me. I hope I'm not too much of a bother,” He said as he shook her hand.

“Oh nonsense,” Sharron had a slight drawl. Ryan would have been able to tell that she grew up here but lived elsewhere just by hearing that voice. “No one should be alone on a holiday like this. We’re glad to have you.” Ryan wondered how much this woman knew of his “situation.”

“And this is my mother’s childhood friend, Kathy,” Rae added.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ma’am.” Ryan greeted.

“Likewise, now take a seat,” the others went to HEB to grab some Blue Bell ice cream for tonight.”

“Rae, you should have told me. I would have been more than happy to pick some up while I was there earlier.”

“He’s a keeper. Either you or Rach better snatch him up fast.”

“Well about that,” Rae looked to Ryan, “Is it alright to tell them?”

“We might as well. They are going to find out soon.”

“Rae, did you finally bring a guy home to meet your parents?” Sharon teased.

“Mom I brought home, Ben!” Rae rebutted.

“Ben doesn’t count, and you know it.”

“No, I didn’t bring home a guy to meet you. I brought over Evie’s guy to meet you.”

“Oh, my stars, Evie finally has a boyfriend!” Sharon was so excited.

“Not quite,” Ryan said sheepishly. “You see there was this misunderstanding at the airport. I happened to sit next to Evie on the plane, and we may have said each other’s words.” Ryan explained.

“May have?” Kathy asked.

“From what I have gathered, Evie and I both have very common phrases for our soulmarks. I know that she said mine, but we don’t know if I said hers’. Neither one of us reacted to the other person, but ever since yesterday, I’ve felt this pull in my chest when I think about her.”

“What are Evie’s words? I don’t think I’ve seen them.” Sharron asked.

“She keeps them covered most of the time either with her hair or a bandage or some type of clothing. She has somehow gotten it into her head that the marks are like tattoos and will fade if they get sun damaged, so she keeps a band aid over it when her shirt doesn’t cover it. I’ve seen the word Miss, but that’s it.” Ryan’s heart skipped a beat and his mouth burst into a smile. “She is very secretive about them for some reason.”

“I know why she guards them,” Ryan said. “When you have a common phrase like mine as your soul mark, it’s easier for people to tease you with it. It happened in so many of my schools when I was younger, we moved around a lot. Kids would get it in their heads that if they said your words, then they would have some sort of control over you,” He clarified. “Every time your phrase gets said you feel this burst of hope and when it’s a false alarm like many of mine were, it is the most soul crushing experience.” Ryan put his elbows on his knees and rested his hands, intertwined at the fingertips, on his mouth.

“That sounds awful. I'm sorry you had to go through that.” Sharon said.

“It happened in the past, there is no sense dwelling on it now.” They all heard the creek of the patio door open.

“Sharon we’re back.” Jim stepped outside and shut the door behind him. “You must be Ryan. I’m Jim Riley.” The two shook hands “I'm glad you could join us.” Ryan felt nervous like he was back in college auditioning for one of his plays.

“Thank you for letting me join in Sir,” Ryan responded politely.

“Please, call me Jim. I wanted to thank you for helping Rae out this morning.”

“That’s what neighbors are for,” Ryan said.

“Okay, it’s getting kind of warm out here. How about everyone but Ryan goes inside.” Rae strongly suggested.

“What, Rae that’s rude.” Jim chastised.

“No dad, it really isn’t. I’ll explain inside once, Evie is outside.” Rae pushed her father through the door. “Ryan, go sit as far away from these doors as possible,” Rae whispered to Ryan who moved to sit in the chair furthest to the right. Rae walked inside. “Hey Evie, you can put your cokes in the cooler outside,” She said. “I’ll finish putting these things away.”

Ryan could hear her footsteps coming closer. 

“Sure, thanks, Rae,” Evie said turning to walk towards the patio. Rae trailed behind and stopped her as Evie put her hand on the handle of the door. “What’s up?” Evie asked.

“Before you go out there, I just want you to know, that there is also a surprise waiting for you too,” Becca said as she took her hand off Evie’s shoulder.

“Do I want to go outside,” Evie said suspiciously.

“Yes, you do, or at least you will. Trust me.” Rae insisted.

“That doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence,” Evie replied.

“Just go.” Evie turned the door handle. “And remember what you said this morning!” Evie heard Rae call as she opened the door and stepped outside.

Evie took a moment to appreciate the view like she did every time she walked outside to the porch. “God it's gorgeous here.” She said out loud.

Ryan’s breath was caught in his throat. ‘ _It’s not as gorgeous as you_.’ He thought. ‘ _Damn that was cheesy._ ’ He observed her, waiting for the moment that she saw him. He noticed how small she really was. She couldn’t have been taller than Jeremy. He saw that she was wearing silver high top Converse that looked like they had seen better days. Traveling upwards he saw her short, light blue shorts had the American flag printed on the front. They were the perfect length for her. Not untastefully short but short enough to show off her strong dancer's legs.

He couldn’t make out the front of her shirt from where he was sitting, but that didn’t matter. The back of her black tank top was lace, making it easy to see the outline of her body. His eyes lingered on her waist. He could just make out the black edges of a tattoo, that looked suspiciously like a ghost from packman. He could make out a bright green and black material that clasped in the middle of her back, which he assumed must have been her swimsuit.

Further, up he saw that her hair was down. The feathered tresses reached mid shoulder blade, just barely exposing the fragmented lines on her left shoulder blade. _‘That must be them,’_ he thought. They were too far away and obscured for Ryan to make out what they said.

Deciding it was time, Ryan cleared his throat to alert her that someone else was here. “Holy fuck!” Evie said as she jumped at the sound. She turned to look for the source and lost her footing by the steps that led down to the grassy bank of the river. Ryan sprang into action in a futile attempt to catch her before she fell down the five steep steps. Evie flailed her unoccupied arm in the air and, fortunately, was able to grab onto the stair’s railing.

Ryan took a few more steps towards her. “Shit, Evie! Are you alright,” he asked from a distance, not sure how close she wanted him to be.

Evie stabled herself on the stairs and finally looked towards the voice. Her heart started pounding from adrenaline and shock, she froze in place for a moment before righting herself on the stairs. “Ryan?” She mentally chastised herself. _‘That’s all you can say to him. Not a, what are you doing here? Not a, it’s good to see you. Just, Ryan. I’m pretty sure he knows his own fucking name.’_

“Yeah, I’m here.” He replied running his fingers through his hair. “I hope you don’t mind. I’m Rae’s neighbor, and she heard that I didn’t have any plans for the 4th so,”

“That sneaky bitch,” Evie said too quietly for Ryan to hear. She looked through the glass doors into the where Rae stood with a cheeky grin on her face. The rest of the group was standing around her so Evie could do little else than shake her head.

She ascended the stairs and stopped right before the first patio chair. The tension between them thick.

Ryan sighed, “Look we both know this is awkward. Why don’t we sit down and discuss this? Whatever this is.”

Evie nodded and sat down in the chair in front of her and Ryan reclaimed his seat. They sat facing each other with only a small glass table separating them.

Evie set the six pack of Diet Coke on the table between them and ripped one off for herself before offering one to Ryan. “Would you like one? They may be a little warm, and a bit shaken up, but they should still be fine.”

“Sure,” Ryan grabbed one for himself. Both waited a bit before opening them up so they wouldn’t explode.

Thoughts buzzed around both their heads like a hornet’s nest. Each willing the other would talk first. They sat in awkward silence for 5 minutes, looking everywhere else except for each other.

“I'm going to just come out and say it,” Ryan said breaking the suffocating silence. “Evie, you said my words.” Evie sat their catatonic, trying to process what he had just said. Did she hear him right? _‘I said his words?’_

Ryan sat there in trepidation, waiting for her to say something, anything. To just acknowledge his presence.

“Look I understand how crazy this must seem. Someone you just met trying to convince you that he believes he is your soulmate.” Still nothing. He waited a full minute. “I can see that this was a waste of time,” He said as he stood and started to walk towards the doors into the house.

He walked past her seat where she sat unmoving. He slowed his pace hoping, praying, for anything. He was almost to the door when he felt a small trembling hand grab hold of his arm. He paused mid-step staying frozen like a statue, his gaze locked on the translucent reflection on the glass doors.

“-did-to me,” She spoke so softly that Ryan couldn’t make out the words.

He looked down to see Evie’s hand holding his, her gaze fixed to on the diet coke in her lap. “What was that,” He asked.

Evie inhaled. “On the plane,” her voice shook, “when you first spoke to me. What did you say?”

Ryan took a knee down in front of Evie. He gently put his right hand under her chin and lifted her head up so he could stare into her big brown eyes. He could see tears moments from overflowing.

“The first time I spoke to you I said, "Excuse me, Miss?" She only blinked causing tears to start cascading down her face. He took a deep breath, “and you responded, "Sorry about that."

Ryan didn’t know what happened. One moment he was kneeling in front of Evie, hoping that she would make any kind of indication that she could hear him. Suddenly he was on his back, on the porch with arms around his neck and a small figure pressed on top of him their lips pressed together. He could feel droplets of water fall on his cheeks from her tears. She was about to pull away when Ryan finally gained control of his limbs. He wrapped an arm around Evie’s waist, pulling her closer, while his other was snaking up her spine towards her beautiful brown locks. He buried his hand in her hair.

Everything just felt right.

He felt like a part of his soul snapped into place. They stayed like that for a few moments longer, neither one wanting to break the kiss.

The horn from a passing boat brought them slowly back into reality. Ryan slowly sat up keeping Evie on his lap, wanting, needing to be close to her. Evie rested her forehead on his, eyes still closed. Ryan brought the hand not supporting her up towards her face to wipe away her tears.

“I finally found you.” She whispered and opened her eyes. Deep brown met stunning cobalt blue. Ryan pulled her closer, crushing her into his chest, gently rocking the two back and forth.

“You found me.” He said resting his chin atop her head, his hand rubbing small circles across her back. They stayed in each other’s embrace for minutes, hours, neither could tell. “Evie?” Ryan spoke breaking the comfortable silence.

“Uh huh,” she responded too happy for words.

“Can we move to the couch? My legs are starting to fall asleep.” Evie chuckled and stood, helping Ryan up as well. The pair settled in the corner of the couch. Evie sat between Ryan’s legs, so her back was resting against Ryan’s chest.

She interlaced their fingers and spoke, “So I guess we should start getting to know one another.”

“Ask anything you’d like,” Ryan responded pulling their hands to his mouth and placing a kiss on the back of hers.

“I’ll ask a question, and then you ask one after. Sound fair?” She felt Ryan nod his head. “Let’s see, how long have you lived in Austin?”

“It’s been a good five or six years. I’ve been in Texas longer than that, though. Okay, my turn. Why are you moving here?”

“I got a job here. I'm going to be working at the new high school come August.” Evie explained. She felt Ryan shift slightly.

“The one off of East 51?” He asked.

“Yup. Come August 1st I’ll be working full time at Bartholomew high school.”

“Have you seen the campus yet?”

“Not yet. I’ve heard it looks amazing, though.”

“It really is,” Ryan said. “It looks more like a college campus than a high school one. They just finished construction a few weeks ago.”

“I think it helps that the elementary school, middle school, and high school are all in such close proximity.”

“I can take you around there sometime. The campus just so happens to be across the street from where I work.”

“Seriously? Well, then I'm expecting visits on my lunch break."

"It would be my pleasure." His leaned closer to whisper huskily in her ear. "I'll actually be over fairly frequently. We, Rooster Teeth Productions, are actually participating in their after-school programs. A bunch of us are going to help the kids with video production, theater, coding, video game design.”

“I guess we’ll both have late nights then.” She said. “I have color guard practice every day before school and twice a week after school. The other days I will be helping watch the kids whose parents work late.”

 “Wow, that’s a full schedule.”

“Eh, I’m used to it.” Evie shrugged her shoulders, “Alright, why does your business card say your title is the mad king?” Ryan laughed. Not the quiet chuckles they had shared, but a deep full bellied laugh that shook Evie on his chest.

“Oh, I don’t know if we have time to fully explore all of the reasons behind that decision,” Ryan tried to defer.

“Now I’m really interested.”

“I’ll show you the video someday.”

Evie yawned and snuggled further into Ryan who was running his fingers through her hair; she was struggling to keep her eyes open. Ryan noticing her predicament whispered, “I’ll be here when you wake up.” Evie drifted off into a peaceful sleep. Ryan soon followed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will, unfortunately, be the last update for the week.  
> Next week is finals week and I can't have any distractions. :/  
> I look forward to your comments and to continuing this story soon!


	7. Troubles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise chapter update!  
> I can't help myself with this story!  
> I have 30 pages of history papers to write but I keep returning to this project.  
> There is a ton of dialog in this chapter.  
> I hope you like it!

***brrrrring-brrrrring***

Evie groaned and attempted to sit up but Ryan's arm was laying across her chest, and their legs had intertwined.

***brrrrring-brrrrring***

            “Mh-hh. Make it stop.” She said groggily as she untangled their legs.

Evie's squirming combined with the phone ringing was enough to wake up Ryan.

***brrrrring-brrrrring***

"Sorry that's me," Ryan said finally opening his eyes. He removed his arm, and they both sat up. Evie ran her fingers through her hair as Ryan dug into his front pocket to grab his phone.

"You're good. I should probably go inside and let them know what happened." She said standing up from the couch lifting her arms overhead to stretch. "I mean if that's okay with you." Evie looked over to Ryan.

***brrrrring-brrrrring***

“Only if you’re okay with me telling my co-workers.” He smiled and answered his phone without looking at it. “ _Ryan Haywood_.” Evie smiled and went inside.

 _“Ryan I need you to take the kids,”_ A Shrill voice sounded.

 _“Britny?”_ Ryan asked suspiciously.

_“Who else would it be?”_

_“No one, what did you say?”_

_"I need you to pick up the kids in Corpus Christi,"_ Brittny stated in a matter of fact way. 

 _“That’s insane, why?”_ Ryan questioned.

_“Because I have plans.”_

_“Plans! What plans! I specifically asked you if you wanted me to take them today and you said no!”_ Ryan was furious. He should have made her switch weekends with him. He knew this was going to happen.

 _“These plans just came up.”_ She explained.

 _“That doesn’t mean you shirk your responsibilities as a parent!”_ He lectured. He couldn’t deal with her right now. Ryan didn’t want to be that divorcee who always bitched at their ex, but when it came to their children, Ryan would do anything to keep them safe.

 _"Well, are you going to get them or not,"_ Britney nagged.

 _"Brittny I'm not even in Austin right now,"_ Ryan said with a sigh.

_“What do you mean you aren’t in Austin?”_

_“I mean I’m not at home. Rae and Ben asked me to come with them to celebrate the 4 th with their family, and I said yes. It would take me 4 hours to get to Corpus Christi from Kingsland.”_

_“Well I'm going out tonight so, do you want to drive down and pick up Andrew and Jessica or are they coming with me to a fourth of July party with my old sorority sisters,”_ Brittny expressed. Ryan was livid. He had nothing against her friends from college but parties like that tend to get out of hand. There was also no guarantee that Brittny would have the kids home at a reasonable hour. Ryan had no choice but to go down and pick up the kids, but he ran into a problem.

Ryan and Evie couldn't be apart for very long, especially now that they had made contact for an extended amount of time. They would be okay across short distances like their houses or from rooster teeth to Evie's house but four hours away would be torturous. He had already gotten a taste of the dull ache associated with being away from your soulmate and he didn’t want himself or Evie to feel that again.

 _"Fine, I'll come get them, under two conditions. First, you will leave them with me for the remainder of this week and my full visitation week this next week. Second,"_ Ryan took a deep breath, _"They will be around my co-workers and neighbors, including my new neighbor. She will be around often. You agree to these terms then Evie, and I will be down to pick up the kids."_

 _“Who the hell is Evie,”_ Brittny sneered.

Ryan knew that he would have to deal with this soon, but he thought he would have at least three more days with Evie to prep her for his recently ex-wife. He also didn't know how Evie would feel about being around his kids this early into their, hopefully, long relationship.

 _“She is the new neighbor,”_ Ryan was desperately trying to avoid this conversation with her. _“Just agree yes or no.”_

 _"Why is she coming, Ryan?"_ She growled.

Ryan took a breath, _“She is my soulmate,”_ he grumbled.

_“What was that?”_

_"She's my soulmate, aright! I met my soulmate on the plane from Phoenix, and she happens to be my neighbor. So, do we have a deal or not."_

_"I don't know this woman Ryan. I don't want her around my children."_

_“I don’t know your sorority friends. This is a two-way street Brittny. Besides, she is going to be watching our kids once school starts anyway.”_ Ryan reasoned.

_“What are you talking about?”_

_“She is one of the teachers at the after-school program Drew and Jessie are going to.”_ He explained getting more and more frustrated.

_“Well-”_

_“Brittny, while I respect your, opinion and worry about who we expose our children to,_ ” Ryan’s tone was cold but respectful, “ _Just know that Evie is going to be meet them sooner or later, and I would rather them get used to the idea that she is going to be around."_

 _“Fine,”_ Brittny caved, “ _but I want to meet her before she gets anywhere near Andrew or Jessica.”_

 _“that’s reasonable, thank you. Expect me in four and a half hours.”_ Ryan hung up the phone and sighed. _‘how should I tell Evie about this?”_ He ran a hand through his hair and stood up while putting his phone away. As he turned he saw Evie near the glass door. She appeared to be waiting for him to be off the phone.

Ryan went to open the door, and Evie turned.

"Hey, can I talk to you about something real quick?” He asked.

“Sure,” Evie said nervously. She took his hand as he led her out onto the porch once again. They stood against the gray banister on the porch looking out at the river. “What wrong?” she asked.

Ryan ran his hand through his hair again. She was starting to notice that it was a habit of his.

“So, you heard my conversation on the plane right,” Ryan asked.

“The one with your, I'm assuming, ex-wife? Yes, I did. I tried not to, but it was kinda hard with us sitting so close to each other."

“It’s fine. Anyway, Brittny, my ex,” he knew he was yammering, not wanting to put Evie in this kind of situation. “Brittny needs me to pick up my kids. Nothings wrong.” He said when he saw her worried reaction. “She just needs me to drive down to Corpus Christi to pick them up. 

She paused a moment before responding "I-I don't really know the protocol in these situations," Evie reciprocated, "I don't know what I should say. I'm not going to be a bitch and say that you need to say, or demand that you take me. I'm sure your ex-wife doesn't want your new soulmate around your kids, and I don't know how comfortable you are with me meeting them." She didn't want him to leave and but they were his children. "If you need to go then I understand. I'm going to miss you like crazy, though." She said, tears building up behind her eyes. _‘God, why am I crying so much?’_ she thought.

"That's the thing. If I were just going back to Austin, then I'd say that I could wait to see you tomorrow. I'd miss you terribly but its only an hour away. I don’t know how much you know about the geography of Texas but, Corpus Christi is around four hours away.” Ryan felt the pulse of Evie’s heart sinking in his mark, so he gave her hand a squeeze. “I was wondering if you would come with me?”

“You feel comfortable with me meeting your children?” she asked in amazement.

"Well, if you're going to be a part of my life then yes." He pulled her close. "Like I already told Brittny, you are going to be around for a while. I would like my kids to get used to the idea that I'm with someone else." He placed a kiss on the crown of her head. "Besides, you're going to be watching them during school. I think they should get to know you before they see you every other day without me."

“Let me pack my stuff real quick.” She gave him a quick kiss.

“One thing I need to mention. Brittny wants to have a talk with you before we take them with us.”

“That’s perfectly fine. I mean if it were my kids I’d want to meet my ex’s new soulmate too. All hypothetically of course.” They entered the house hand in hand.

"Guys I have some news," Evie announces. "Ryan needs to go pick up his kids, and I'm going to go with him." Ryan squeezed her hand in encouragement. "We will be going back to the houses afterwords. Umm. Ryan can explain the rest since I need to go pack." Evie left Ryan to the sharks.

"Umm, yeah." He ran his hand through his hair. "There was a communication issue with my ex-wife, so I need to drive down to Corpus Christi to pick them up. I know it puts a downer on your holiday and I'm sorry. If it wasn't for the bonding process and the fact that it's four hours away…"

"That's alright Ryan, we understand," Rae reassured as everyone agreed with her. "We'll see you soon alright."

"Thank you for understanding," Ryan said as he gave Rae a quick hug.

Ryan took turns going around the room giving his apologies and goodbyes. He got to Jim and gave him a firm handshake, "I'd love to take you and your wife out to dinner one of these days as a thank you and apology."

“How are you at golf?” Jim asked keeping eye contact with Ryan in an attempt to be intimidating.”

"I'm not too good, but I have a set of clubs sir," Ryan replied respectfully.

“How about a round sometime this week?” I’ll have to check my schedule and find a sitter for the kids, but that sounds great.”

"Alright, I'll have Evie give you the details," Jim said.

Evie had packed all her stuff and said her goodbyes. They headed out, and Ryan unlocked his white Jeep.

"I approve of your choice of car," Evie said, eyeing the newer model car.

"Well, I needed something that was safe for my kids." He retorted as he put her suitcase in the trunk.

“No that wasn’t sarcasm. I really do like the car.” They got in the car and started toward Corpus Christi. “I have an older model back in Cali that I’m going to be making the trip back here in a week.” She reported. “Oh shit.” She realized what she just said.

Ryan noticed too. He gripped the steering when harder, nervously. “How long are you gone for?”

“Um, six days I think. Three to finish packing and three to make the trip back here.” Evie elaborated. “How is that going to work?” she asked concerned.

Ryan contemplated his answer for a short while after grabbing Evie’s hand. ‘I can’t take that much time off of work, and even if I could, next week I have the kids.’

"I can think of two solutions, neither is comfortable, but both should work." Evie listened intently. "We could either spend every minute until you leave together. That would create an illusory bond that should hold until you get back. Even if it doesn't, we would be able to handle the discomfort until you are back."

"Okay, that would be a slight inconvenience for both of us, but that should be manageable, right?" she replied. "What's the other solution?"

He didn’t want to answer and make her think he was a pig. “The first plan should work, I don’t think I even need to mention the second one.” He tried evading.

“It can’t be that bad.” Evie prodded.

He couldn’t see any way around it. “We, um… We could, daa.”

“Take a breath. I’m here. You won’t scare me away that easily.” Evie tried to reassure him.

Ryan let out a sigh, "We could complete the bond before you leave." A silence swept over the car. Evie loosened her grip on Ryan's hand, and looked out of the passenger window; a blush was radiating on her cheeks. ‘oh God.’ Evie let out a raspy breath. She was slowly freaking out inside. To fully bond with your soulmate your marks had to touch at the point of…sexual release.

After a good 15 min of silence with Ryan trying to comfort her without saying anything to worsen the situation, Evie spoke. “Ryan, I’m not really…comfortable with the second option.”

"I didn't think you would be. That's why I tried to backtrack. I just want you to know that I would never pressure you into anything." He took little looks at her before returning his gaze to the road.

"Thank you. One day, absolutely, but I-just." She took a breath for strength, "I'm a virgin." Her face glowing red. "I know it's silly for me to feel embarrassed about this sort of thing but I am way out of my depth here. You are the first person I’ve even kissed.” She put her head in her hands. “God I’ve made a fool of myself.” She groaned.

Evie could feel the car slowly decelerate and could hear Ryan turn on his blinker. Soon felt the jolt of the car coming to a stop and listened to the click of Ryan's seatbelt and the opening of his door. She felt the warm breeze on her right side as Ryan opened the passenger side door and she heard the crunch of gravel next to her.

Ryan gently, removed her hands from her face, slowly as to not startle her. He lightly turned her face so she could see him on one knee right next to her open car door.

“Evie,” Ryan whispered softly, “Do you really think I care about you being a virgin?” Ryan smiled and gave a small shake of his head. “So far you have shown yourself to be a smart, responsible, seemingly selfless, woman.”

“Seemingly huh.” They both chuckled.

"I would wait until the end of our lives if that's how long it took for you to feel comfortable enough with me. Experience be damned. Besides Even though it seems sexist, and I'm sorry about this, but is incredibly erotic that I get to be your first everything; If you'll let me. It must be some evolutionary trait that I guess I haven't gotten rid of yet." He pressed a kiss to her forehead and returned to the driver's side of the car, making Evie's receding blush return with a fury. 

"Ryan?" Evie had asked before Ryan started up the car. He looked over at her to reply and was met with a kiss. Evie had taken off her seatbelt and leaned over the center car console so she could wrap her arms around his neck to deepen her kiss.

Shocked Ryan didn’t get to respond before she pulled away and re-buckled her seatbelt.

So, would your boss be okay with me hanging around the office? Maybe if we explain the situation?” Ryan returned to the road.

“Oh, he wouldn’t have any problems with it. As long as I can do my work, then he should be all right with it. But I should warn you; there is a line in the contract that all the employee's sign that says something along the lines of; this is a company with adults working here, use good judgment in all situations, and know that adult themes are common.” He tried to explain.” It basically means that I work with a bunch of animals half the time so if they say something stupid or insulting, they are idiots.”

“So it’s like a college frat house without the booze?” She tried to understand.

“No the booze is still there, and it's more respectful than a frat house. You'll see tomorrow after we drop the kids off at summer camp."

"Well, I'm looking forward to meeting your co-workers." They sit in a comfortable silence for 15 minutes. "So what are your kids like?" Evie asked. 

They have a lot to discuss and plenty of time to discuss it. Only two and a half hours left until they would arrive at Corpus Christi.


	8. Conversations

Evie was sitting in the front seat of Ryan's Jeep; one leg folded under her while the other rested on the floor; she faced Ryan with her arm rested on the center console. "So, from what I gathered, you have a girl and boy. That's about all I got from the plane conversation."

"Okay, Andrew is my oldest. He is seven years old and will be going into third grade. Jessica is 5, and she is going into first grade."

"Oh wow, they're young," Evie remarked.

“Yeah, they have late birthdays.”

“Do they go by their full names?”

"They don't mind going by their full names, but we've always called them Jessie and Drew," Ryan explained.

"Do they play any sports, any activities?" Evie asked as she looked out at the dull scenery. The landmarks from Kingsland to Corpus Christi were few and far between.

"Not so much. When they are over, I try to have them spend time outside. Jessie may be getting interested in soccer, but neither have their one thing."

“I was like that when I was younger. My parents had me in dance, then I switched to soccer, then to softball, then back to dance and one last season of soccer, then dance. I finally settled on color guard my second trimester of 8th grade," Evie listed.

"How did you discover color guard?" Ryan asked, genuinely curious.

"The high school team came during our PE classes one day, and I instantly fell in love with it. They let the kids try out their equipment, so I grabbed a rifle and never looked back. In fact, the reason I became a teacher was so I could coach."

"That's dedication," He commented which made Evie smirked.

“I’m just following the trend of high school. I was most dedicated on my team all four years. I had no social life in high school… It got slightly better during college but not by much. I always took the maximum number of units I could, an average of 5 classes, while I had three jobs,” she explained.

“You really are used to having a full schedule.”

"I get antsy when I'm not busy." Evie shrugged her shoulders and tilted her head. "How are you with animals?"

“I don’t have any problem with them. I’m more of a dog person, though. Why, do you have animals?”

“I’m about to. I’ve been in contact with a breeder in Houston, and they said that I could pick up the puppy when I get back in town. I know, I chose a to spend way too much money on a dog that I could have rescued.”

"Hey, no judgment here. If you wanted a particular type of dog, then you have every right to get that dog. What kind of dog is it?" Ryan prompted.

“It’s called a Pomsky.” He took a second to look at her before returning to the road. Evie was beaming. 

“You are getting a Pomeranian/Husky mix?” he queried.

“Yup. I’ve been saving for this dog for four years.”

“Jesus!”

“It’s a Siberian husky that stays small forever!” She explained as though her justification made the ridiculous amount of time any better. “I think it was worth the savings.”

"Well, I can't wait to see it." He said after seeing how excited she was.

"They've been sending me pictures of him, and he is adorable! They're also really good with kids. I already have the approval to bring him to school with me."

“I'm sure Jessie and Drew will love having a puppy around.” He chuckled.

“So, other than children, what else occupies your time?”

"Well since the kids are with their mother half the time, I've been working more. We are a production company, so I've been doing a lot of filming projects lately."

 “Speaking of your job, are you going to explain this Mad King thing or am I going to have to google?” Evie asked with a mischievous smile on her face.

"It may be easier if you just look it up, but in my defense, I was sleep deprived. Jessie had just been born and wasn't sleeping through the night."

“This should be fun. Do you mind if I play some in here? We still have an hour and a half until we get to your ex-wife’s place.”  

“Might as well. Here hook your phone up to the Bluetooth. This way I can explain things to you.” Evie hooked up to the in car speakers and opened YouTube.

_Historical scores for the second Punic war carried such detailed descriptions of the events surrounding the capture of the city that it is generally accepted that such descriptions derived from Silenus._

_Tarentum had long been a target for Hannibal, but, although there are pro-Carthaginians sympathizers or within its walls, they had never been strong enough._

“Sorry about that!” Evie scrambled to pause her phone. “I was listening to an audiobook.”

“You’re good. What were you listening too?”

"It's called Carthage Must be Destroyed. It's a sympathetic history of the fall of Carthage to the Ancient Romans." She typed in Ryan Haywood into the YouTube app. "Let's see, Should we watch Best of…Mad King Ryan or Best of…Mad King Ryan 6, or maybe even ‘Ryan has officially lost his mind.' Oh, is this a rap battle!" Let's start with the rap battle for fun since it's the shortest then we'll go to the first best of. That sound good?" Evie said with pure joy on her face.

“Well let’s get this over with then.”

“You know, we really don’t have to watch this if you don’t want to. I can satiate my curiosity later.”

"No, no, it's better if I explain some things to you, so you don't think I'm a complete psychopath."

“Haha, it’s all in good fun I’d imagine. Alright, let’s do this.”

_ITS TIME FOR A ROOSTER TEETH THROWDOWN!_

Evie started giggling, and Ryan decided that that was one of the most addicting sounds he had ever heard. "That voice is perfect for announcing." She said thought her fits of light laughter.

“You can give your compliments to Jeremy tomorrow when we go to work.”

_I conquered distant foreign planets for no reason but spite/Your tyranny is ma-_

Evie paused the video

“Is that a cartoon Ryan?” she exclaimed.

"Yeah, that's me. It's part of the video game stuff that I do. We all say stupid shit and the fans latch onto it. I'm the Mad King; X-Ray is in the green suit, he was based on Ray who doesn't work at Achievement Hunter anymore. The Brit is Gavin. You may meet him tomorrow if he shows up."

“I just have to say one thing before we start this again.” Evie started, “Dude, your character design is hot.” Ryan blinked three times before bursting out in laughter soon to be joined by Evie. The video started again.

_-de of cows, chicken, sheep and the meek…_

_Victory is starring Gus, Gus, and special guest Gus/"King."_

HAHAHAHAHA

“That’s some laugh you’ve got there, stud.”

"Stud huh, I like it," Ryan commented.

“I’ve never been one for babe or sweetheart. Seems creepy to refer to a lover as baby, you know?”

“Hmm, well know I need to think of a pet name for you.”

They returned to the music.

_All Hail!/ The Mad Kung is stepping back to his throne…_

"No offense but you sound uncomfortable as all hell doing this" Evie chimed in not pausing the video.

"It's that easy to tell?" She smiled, tilted her head and raised her eyebrows in a look that said ‘really.'

_Where “Give me your milk” isn’t my only demand_

“Give me your milk?” Evie paused again?

"It's this line I said during one of our Grand Theft Auto lets plays. We were doing this mock demolition derby, and I was "bullying," he said with on handed air quotes, "one of my co-workers and said give me your lunch money, I want your milk. The audience latched onto that because of this cow I keep in Minecraft. You'll see it if you keep watching."

“Okay.”

_I'm a maniacal maker of major malice and mischief/Inspired monarchs and mythos/Meaning to make masks of mystifying/Ambitious, deliciously injudicious/And vicious display_

“Damn listen to you go!”

“God that line took forever to record.”

_I’m a master of men_

“Did you just make out with a fake lion?”

“It was for a show.”

“Sure it was,” she said laughing.

_I have a cow that kills_

"Your first verse wasn't too bad," She said over the video.

_When I drop your ass faster than a German slide_

“You look adorable on that slide.” As they continued to listen to the music.

_I'm called the Mad King, and I earned that role/by trapping cows and men in inescapable holes_

"Well, that clarifies the give me your milk line."

_When your just a king bowing to a Dark God_

"That was really well done. I definitely didn't get all the references, but it was funny. I'm guessing that the next video will clear some things up."

“Oh, you will undoubtingly see some of the references.”

Evie started the video and immediately a clip of a video game which she recognized as Minecraft. She soon found out that this was the legendary Edger in the hole clip. "The first thing I'm going to do when I stop torturing you with your own videos is buy the free Edgar shirt," Evie explained after he told her about Michael and Gavin's shenanigans of releasing the cow.

They continued to watch videos while Evie made little quips here and there and Ryan explained jokes to her. One of her favorite lines was from a Smite video with Ryan saying “Oh no I’m in love.”

They had finally made it to Ryan's Ex-wife's house as Evie was dying from laughter at a best of Team Love n' stuff video. She had discovered that Ryan had been a male model, that Ryan would eat a cat if someone prepared it for him, that Ryan has a close relationship with Gavin's girlfriend Meg, and that both Ryan and herself both go to movies by themselves. She also realized that she despised Ryan's old-timey voice.

They took their time exiting the car.

“So, is there anything I shouldn’t do or say to Brittny?”

“Just treat her with respect but don’t take any of her shit.”

"Alright, sounds easy enough," she said, her voice shaking slightly. Evie was extremely shy when it came to people she perceived as being more powerful. In this case, she would be staring at Ryan's doctor-and-mother-of-his-two-kids-Ex-Wife. She was beyond intimidated, but she would persevere. ‘Just think of this as a parent-teacher conference.' She thought.

Ryan took her hand after opening her door for her. She gripped it tighter as they approached the door and stood slightly behind Ryan. Evie took a deep breath as Ryan rang the doorbell and dropped their hands. They didn’t want to make this situation more uncomfortable than it already was.

They heard a small "who is it" through the door.

“Andrew,” Ryan said in an authoritative voice, “You know you aren’t supposed to answer the door.” The door opened to revile a small seven-year-old boy wearing a light blue t-shirt and tan shorts. He had light brown hair and Ryan’s piercing blue eyes.

“Sorry Dad,” the boy apologized, giving his dad a hug.

"I'll let you off with a warning this time. Now, get your mother, and I'll be in to help you pack your stuff while she and my new friend talk. Andrew looked at Evie, who gave him a small smile and wave, before replying with a wary okay.

"Mom," Drew yelled as he ran down the hall and Ryan led Evie into the house. "Dad is with a girl who isn't Meg!"

Evie blushed as Ryan gave a half frustrated half amused sigh. He rubbed her back where his words stained her skin, trying to send comfort and calm.

“Andrew go get your things and your sister.” A voice called out.

“You’ll be fine.” He said reassuringly.

“Thanks,” she said gathering herself.

A medium height, blond woman, walked into the room wearing dark blue jeans a red shirt and white high heels. Ryan noticed Evie's posture change as soon as Brittny stepped into the room.

“Hello Dr. Wellington, my name is Everett Douglas. It's nice to meet you." Evie stuck out her hand. Ryan was shocked at her sudden personality switch. Not even a minute before Evie was all but cowering behind him, and now she was standing here tall as she could be oozing confidence. It was amazingly sexy.

Brittny seemed surprised too as she stuttered slightly while greeting Evie.

“H-Hello, Miss Douglas”

“Oh, please call me Everett.” Evie countered.

“Umm, I’m going to be in the back with the kids.” Ryan kissed Evie on the head and left the room.

"You wanted to speak to me, Dr. Wellington." Evie started.

“You can call me Brittny.” The blond woman replied.

“Brittny then. I apologize, I automatically go into teacher mode around children’s parents.”

“That’s fine. Now I wanted to speak to you about your relationship with Ryan.”

I’m going to have to stop you right there.” Evie’s voice dropped, growing slightly colder. “It is none of your business what my relationship with your ex-husband is. You seem like a responsible parent, and I understand you want to keep your kids safe."

“Excuse me!” Brittny tried to interject.

"No, I'm still talking. Here are the details you need to know. One, Ryan and I share a soulmark. Two, I am a school teacher at the new high school adjacent to the elementary school you are sending your children to. Three, I have been employed by three different school systems before this and all I left in good faith on my own accord." Evie took a breath and continued, "I will not do anything in front of your children that I wouldn't do in front of my students. I will be respectful of any rules you see fit to instill, and I certainly will do everything in my power to make sure your children do not feel threatened by me in any way. I do not want to be the bad guy here. I am truly sorry that my soulmarking with Ryan has caused this awkward tension and I hope we can rectify this situation. I plan to be with Ryan for the rest of my life, and I would hate for the children to be caught in the middle of some unfortunate living situation."

“Are you done?” Brittny demanded. Evie just nodded her head. “Good.” Brittny paused for a moment before continuing, “You seem like a bright, well-spoken young woman. I appreciate that you took the time to speak with me. I will admit that I don’t feel incredibly comfortable with you being around my children since I don’t know you, but I will give this a try because I trust Ryan.”

"Thank you," Evie let out a breath she was holding in.

"I will set some ground rules," Brittny stated.

"I would be surprised it you didn't."

"There is to be no improper behavior, no swearing, no drugs or alcohol anywhere near the kids. You will not be alone with them unless they have said that they feel comfortable with it. If I hear you break any of these rules I will have Ryan in court so fast."

"You don't have to worry about me, ma'am. I wouldn't do anything to jeopardize Ryan's chances with his kids."

“I will be checking in frequently.” Brittny tried to intimidate.

“I understand,” seemingly not fazed by her. “I’ll leave you to have a moment with your family. Tell Ryan I’ll be outside.”

Evie stepped out of the house and leaned against Ryan's Jeep trying to catch her breath. Her anxiety finally caught up with her. Her chest felt heavy, and her head started to spin. She sat down by the front tire and rested her head against the door panel. After a few moments of deep breathing the dots in her vision faded, the feeling of hopeless dread lessened to a dull radiation throughout her body.

By the time Ryan and the kids exited the house, Evie had suppressed the crippling fear and stood with a smile on her face once again leaning against the jeep. Ryan had Jessie in one hand and her luggage in the other, Drew loitered behind.

“Drew, Jessie I’d like you to meet Ms. Evie.” They both just looked at her. Evie had enough experience with kids to know not to baby them. She crouched down to Andrew and stuck out her hand.

“Hi there, my name is Evie what’s yours?” she said with a smile.

Andrew timidly took her hand “I'm Andrew.”

Evie's smile got bigger, "Well Andrew, it's nice to meet you." She replied. "How about you hop in the back while I put your bags in the trunk?" Andrew looked to his dad who nodded his head.

She then grabbed his bag in her left hand and repeated the process to Jessie who greeted her with slightly more enthusiasm.

Ryan got the kids settled in their car seats while Evie put their bags in the back. She walked back to the passenger seat, and they took off towards Austin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's finals week!! Soon this semester will be over and I will have time to write this and not some book report about WW2.  
> This will probably be the last chapter for this week, so I can focus on my WW2 paper and my Jonestown report. :/ I have such wonderful topics.


	9. Children

The first leg of the drive back to Austin was stressful for Evie to say the least. She was hoping that Ryan would start a conversation, but other than letting them know they were going to be stuck in the car for a while, he was silent. Evie didn’t know what to say if she should say anything, but the silence was suffocating. After thirty minutes of driving Ryan had to pull into a gas station.

“Does anyone need to go to the bathroom?” Ryan asked before taking off his seat belt.

“I do,” Drew said raising his hand before attempting to get his seat belt off.

“Alright bud, Jessie will you be okay staying here with Ms. Evie?” Jessie nodded her head, and Ryan stepped out and around the car to Drew’s door. Ryan and Drew left for the bathroom leaving Evie and Jessie alone.

“So Jessie,” Evie started, gaining Jessie’s attention. “What do you like to do for fun?” Evie asked desperately trying to break the tension in the car. Jessie just stared at her saying nothing. “I like to dance for fun.” Evie continued, “You dad told me that you liked to play soccer. I use to play soccer when I was your age.” That seemed to interest the stubbornly shy little girl. “Would you like to go play sometime?” Jessie nodded her head. Silence filled the car once more, but it was more comfortable than the last.

“Ms. Evie?” Evie perked up at her name being spoken by the small child.

“Yes, Jessie?”

“Could you- um, could you get my teddy bear please?” Evie didn’t want to leave the car for any reason, even if it was just to go to the back of the car.

“Once your dad and brother get back, I’ll get it for you, how about that?” Evie confirmed. Jessie nodded her head. “So does your teddy have a name?”

“His name is Dot,” Jessie answered.

    “How long have you had Dot?”

“He is-I had him since I was born.”  She stuttered in the typical five-year-old fashion. 

“Did your parents give him to you?”

“Umm-hmm” Evie saw Ryan and drew on their way back. “Drew says that I’m too old for Dot.”

Evie frowned, “That’s not true. If it was then, I’m too old for my teddy bear!” Evie dug into her duffle bag by her feet. She pulled out a teddy bear dressed as Sully from Monsters Inc and handed it to the girl who giggled in excitement.

“Kitty!” She exclaimed. Ryan heard the girl laughing from outside the car.

“What's going on in here?” Ryan asked looking at Evie.

“Look Daddy; it’s kitty!” Jessie extolled. Ryan looked at the stuffed animal in confusion.

“Is your bear wearing a Disney costume?” He asked Evie while he re-buckled Drew.

“Sure is,” she responded with a cheeky grin. “Oh, how do you open the trunk? Jessie wanted me to get her bear.”

“It’s a handle,” he said incredulously as he cocked his head and furrowed his brows.

“I hadn’t looked yet,” Evie defended. “I didn’t want to leave her in here with the doors closed. I could have accidentally locked the door, and she would be stuck in here with no air on!” Ryan’s face softened into a grin. 

He closed Drew’s door and walked to the back of the car where Evie just reached. He quickly stooped down to press a quick kiss to Evie’s lips. “Thank you for caring,” Ryan said against her lips, before quickly striding towards the driver’s seat. He rolled down the windows,  popped the gas cap and shut the door.

“Ryan, we may have a problem,” Evie called out from the trunk. Ryan returned to the back of the car. “What's up?” He asked

“I can’t find Jessie’s bear,” She whispered, not sure how the young girl would react to the news.

“Shi-shoot,” He quickly corrected, “She can’t sleep without it.”

“Is Brittny back tomorrow? Because she can bring the bear by, or I can get it when she is back.” Evie inquired.

“She should be, but I’m not sure what to do for tonight.” He sighed.

Evie snapped her fingers and exclaimed, “I have an idea!” Evie walked past Ryan after closing the trunk and opened Jessie's door. Ryan started to mess with the gas pump as Evie sat by Jessie’s feet. “Hey, Jessie.”

“Do you need him back?” Jessie asked holding out the fuzzy monster/bear. Evie shook her head.

“You can keep him for now.” She watched as Jessie squeezed the bear in excitement. “Are you sure you packed your bear? I couldn’t find it.”

“Mommy said she put it in for me.” Jessie whimpered.

“Well, we’ll look when we get back to your dad’s house okay?” Evie reasoned. “Until then, I want you to keep Duffy company.”

“Is that his name?”

“Mm-hmm,” Evie nodded her head.

“Okay,” Jessie held him tight.

“Are we still going to see fireworks?” Drew asked.

“I don’t know. I can ask your father, though.” Evie got up and shut the door.

“I didn’t hear any crying, so I’m guessing everything is fine?” Ryan spoke, leaning against the car. He took Evie’s hand and pulled her to his side. 

“I told her we would look for it more when we get back to your place. Oh, and Drew asked if we would see any fireworks. I told him I’d ask you.” Evie explained. “do you know if any of your, I'm mean our, neighbors are setting any off?”

“No, our street is pretty dead around the forth. They go all out for Christmas though.” He thought for a second. ‘Geoff is out; he was going to his friends this year. Jack wasn’t doing anything this year. What was Michael saying he was doing?’ “I’ve got it. How do you feel about going to a party?”

“Umm, I'm not too excited about it, but if it will make the kids happy.”

“If it makes you feel any better, you’ll be meeting these people tomorrow anyway.” Ryan reasoned.

“I guess so, but I'm sticking with you the entire night.” She snuggled into his side before leaving to get into the car.

“Alright. I’ll make the call,” Ryan called out. The gas hose popped as Ryan touched the call button. He put the pump back and twisted the cap.

“This is Burnie.” Ryan could hear the clanging of metal against metal, and a scrubbing sound in the background.

“Hey Burnie, it’s Ryan.”

“Hey, Ryan! What’cha need?”

“Would you mind if I stopped by with the kids and a plus one tonight?” Ryan questioned.

“Sure you can! A bunch of the guys are bringing their kids too. I thought Ashley told me that yours were with Brittny tonight.” Burnie commented.

“They were supposed to, but some things came up. Long story short, I had to get the kids and now we are on our way back, but they are upset about not seeing any fireworks.” Ryan explained while pacing next to the car.

“Well just bring them by. The barbecues already started, but we won’t start setting off the fireworks until 8.”

“About that, we won’t be getting back until 8:30 9 o’clock.” Ryan entered and started the car.

“No matter, the real show doesn’t start until 9:30. Hey, are you bringing your new friend” Burnie prodded.

“Who talked?” Ryan deadpanned.

“Meg,” Burnie responded.

“Gavin.” Ryan mumbled, “Yes she will be there too. Try and keep the dogs off her, though. I don’t want to scare this one off.” Ryan reached over and took Evie’s hand.

“Wow, okay then. I’m going to let you go before I hear more. See you soon Haywoods!”

“Bye and thank you Burnie,” Ryan hung up the phone. “Well kids, how do you guys feel about fireworks at Daddy’s work?”

“We finally get to see where you work?” Drew asked in excitement.

“Yes, you do. And there will be other kids for you to play with too.” Ryan answered.

“Do we haffta go?” Jessie moaned.

“Why don’t you want to go Jessie? I thought you liked David and Peter?” Ryan questioned. Evie observed the girl hugging the bear closer to herself, in the rearview mirror.

“They don’t want me around. No one else is as old as me.” The little girl justified.

“You’ll be fine once your there. Besides, Drew wants you around.” Ryan comforted.

“How old are the other kids, Jessie?” Evie asked.

“Davy and Justin and Vicky is in the same class as Drew.” Jessie squeaked.

“Jessie is the youngest out of the group unless you count Burnie’s daughter. She is less than a year old.” Ryan clarified.

“Gotcha. Jessie, I was always the youngest too. My birthday was a week before the cutoff date for school, so I was always a year younger than my classmates.” Evie said.

“Really?” Andrew chimed in. 

“Sure was. I was also the youngest of my family until my cousins started having kids. I was three years younger than my brother, and eight years younger than my youngest cousin.” Evie elaborated. Jessie seemed to perk up at the idea that someone else knew what she was feeling.

“I had a December birthday, so I was in the middle age range.” Ryan chimed in.

The group continued their small talk for a while. Drew enthusiastically recalled the cake fight that broke out at the birthday party they went to yesterday.

But the quiet chatter died down the longer they drove. Drew was playing a game on an IPad, and Jessie was curled up against the blue costumed teddy bear, resting against the window.

 “Just so I have this right; Jon has two daughters, Matt and Anna have two sons, and Burnie and Ashley have two sons and a newborn daughter.” Evie recited.

“That’s right, but Burnie’s sons are from a previous marriage. Semantics,” Ryan affirmed.

“Alright, I can do this.” She feigned confidence.

“You’ll be fine.” Ryan comforted. Evie let out a shaky breath. “Is it the prospect of meeting my coworkers that’s stressing you out or just the party in general?”

 “If this were a party with people I would never see again I wouldn’t be freaking out as much. But these are people that you work with. I don’t want to make a wrong impression.” Evie Explained. “I mean I’m already dressed like a college kid on spring break,” She motioned to her clothing that was supposed to function as a cover up for her bathing suit.

“Okay, first you’re on vacation, you are allowed to dress however you want. Second, the only opinion you need to worry about is your own.” He gave her hand a quick squeeze. “Besides if everyone at the company cared about saying the wrong thing or making a bad impression, no one would show up to work.”

 “I just don’t have a lot of experience with people who aren’t, well students. I didn’t make any close friends in high school or college. I started coaching right out of high school, and my co-workers were at least 20 years older than me. I spent most of my time with the kids, only two of which I’m still on ‘friendly’ terms with, and only one of them I still talk to.” Her anxiety was creeping further.

“Evie, Take a deep breath,” Ryan instructed, and Evie complied.

“I just don’t want them to think worse of you because of me.” She articulated. Ryan chuckled slightly.

“You have no problem of that; I don’t think that you could do anything that would make a bad impression. Besides most of them will probably be too drunk to remember anything.”

Evie laughed his reasoning. “Alright, I feel slightly better.”

“Well good, because we’re here,” Ryan said as he turned into the surprisingly crowded parking lot.

“That was fast,” Evie said looking at the time. They had made it to the company a full 45 minutes early.

“I was only going fifteen or so above the speed limit.” He parks his Jeep, and they exit the car. Evie was able to get Drew’s attention by knocking on his window before opening his door.

“We’re here,” Evie said while Ryan woke up Jessie.

The group walked towards the crowd of people surrounding barbecues and picnic tables as Evie silently prepared herself to meet everyone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter today. Finals went well but now my inspiration has taken a hit :/ I'll try to get some new work out soon!  
> Here are age clarifications for the kids that will be involved in this story.  
> Jessie Haywood 5-kindergarten  
> Andrew Haywood 7-2nd grade  
> Makenzie Burns 7 months  
> David Burns 8-2nd grade  
> Robert Jacob (RJ) Burns 11- 6th grade  
> Justin Hullum 7- 2nd grade  
> Peter Hullum 9-4th grade  
> Victoria Risinger 8-2nd grade  
> Gwyn Risinger 10-5th grade


	10. The Party

The group made their way towards the lights and sounds of the Rooster Teeth Fourth of July party. Ryan held a sleepy Jessica propped up against his waist with his right hand holding Andrew’s left. Evie walked to Ryan’s left observing the sites around her.

In front of her lay a massive parking lot filled with cars and an area squared off for tables and grills. There was an area just beyond designated for fireworks that hadn’t seem to start yet. A tall man wearing a red and white flannel shirt and blue jeans stood in the center of the area with a small firework in one hand and a lighter in the other, a shorter stubbier man with hair not quite reaching his shoulders stood by his side. The tall man seemed to be making a speech. Out of the corner of her eye, Evie saw Ryan shake his head.

“Who’s that?” Evie asked.

“That’s Miles Luna and Kerry Shawcross. They are writers and directors at the company. Kerry occasionally does some videos for Achievement Hunter too,” Ryan explained watching the two strut around, making extravagant gestures to all the kids that surrounded them.

“Dad I see Dave and RJ! Can I please go over and play?” Andrew pleaded in excitement.

“Sure, but stay where I can see you and away from the fire okay. You can watch, but I don’t want you messing around with anything that’s hotter than a human.” Ryan answered. The young boy bounded across the pavement to a group of kids listening to Miles intently. He called out, and five heads turned in his direction. The boys did some sort of secret handshake, and he greeted the girls with polite hellos.

Ryan, Jessie, and Evie continued to make their way over to the tables where a motley crew of adults gathered.

“Hey, Rye Bread. Glad you could make it.” An overly perky woman with purple hair and big black rimmed glasses called out.

“Thanks, Meg.” Evie looked at the group of people gathered. Next to Meg sat a moderately tall man. He had shaggy blond hair, blue eyes, and one of the biggest noses Evie had ever see. To his right stood a man with curly brown hair. He had one leg on the ground and the other on the bench of the table, He was slightly hunched over as his weight seemed to be on his bent knee on the seat. He was next to a woman with dyed blond hair and kind eyes. She had a huge smile on her face when she saw the two Haywoods and Evie stroll up.

Across from them stood two couples who had now turned to greet the trio. One man had Very short blond hair and was wearing a polo shirt and jeans. He stood next to a woman with shoulder length brown hair wearing a lovely skirt and tank top combo. Next to them stood a moderately tall man who had on a similar red and white flannel to Miles. He stood next to a shorter blond woman who had a small child in her arms.

“Everyone this is Everett Douglas. Evie this is Gavin and Meg,” he gestured to the purpled hair woman and the shaggy blond man, “Michael and Lindsay,” the curly brown and read heads next to Gavin, “Matt and Anna,” the nicely dressed couple, “and Burnie, Ashley, and their daughter Makenzie.” Evie noticed that all the men she had met in Texas so far had some kind of beard or stubble, except for Michael.

“Hi everyone,” Evie said while giving a small nervous wave of her hand. “It’s nice to meet you all.”

“Hey there, take a seat!” Burnie greeted cheerfully, inviting the trio into the group. Ryan set the sleepy Jessie down on the bench and sat down next to her. Evie took a seat to their left next to Burnie and across from Michael. “Can I get you guys anything to drink?” Burnie asks.

“Sure thanks, I’ll take a diet coke and a water for Jessie.” Ryan replies.

Evie took a breath; her mouth suddenly went dry at the prospect of talking to people. “I have a diet coke if it’s not too much trouble.”  She says, voice shaking slightly.

“Sure thing, I’ll be right back.” Burnie took his leave to go get the drinks and Ashley slid into his spot.

“So the soulmate thing is something right.” Ashley started. “There are a few at the company here at the company.”

“Yeah, um, it caused a bit of confusion at first,” Evie replied.

“Yeah Ryan, what happened with that. Gavin tried to explain it, but it's Gavin.” Michael chimed in.

“Wot’s that supposed to mean?” Gavin demanded. Evie smiles at his pronunciation of the word what.

“It means that you don’t pay attention to anyone else’s problems but yours,” Michael responds. Evie recognized their voices from the videos she and Ryan had watched earlier.

“That’s not true.” The British voice defended. Everyone besides Evie gave Gavin a look that said. ‘are you shitting me.'

“It’s my fault really.” Evie started, “I had my headphones in so I only caught the last word of what Ryan said to me.” She rubbed the back of her neck.

“I should have tapped you on the shoulder or something first.” Ryan inserted.

“You did. I was just too busy throwing my phone at you to listen to what you said.” Evie replied explaining to the group that Ryan sacred her while trying to get her attention.

“Oh is that the gasp I heard on the plane.” Michael speculated. Evie’s face now held a twinge of pink. “I was wondering what that was about.”

“That was me,” Evie admitted. Burnie had returned with the drinks and handed them off before taking a seat next to Ashley and his daughter.

“So, Everette, why are you in Austin?” Ashley asked.

“Please call me Evie or Ever. Everette is too formal,” Evie requested. “I’m here for a job. I’ll be working at the school across the street actually.”

“So, you’re responsible for the future traffic.” Matt joked.

“Fraid so.”

“How can you stand to be around all of those kids? I remember high school, and if I had to put up with teenage, Ryan cover your daughter’s ears." Ryan sighed and did so, “with immature assholes every day; I’d kill myself,” Michael commented.

“They can be rowdy sometimes, but the good outweighs the bad by a mile,” Evie responded. “It also depends on the students and the activity. Thankfully history classes are usually laid back. If I can interest the troublemakers before they have the chance to attempt to establish dominance I should be fine.”

“Well, God bless you. I couldn’t put up with those brats.” Burnie remarked.

“You don’t look like a history teacher.”

“What does a history teacher look like Gavin,” Burnie laughed.

“You know,” Gavin replies.

“No, we don’t know, why don’t you tell us.” Michael egged on.

“They’re, you know, old white dudes with monotone voices,” Gavin explained. “If I had a history teacher that looked like that I would have paid attention in class.”

“Watch it, Gavin. That’s my soulmate you're talking about.” Ryan said.

“Ryan, I’ve got this,” Evie said as she placed her hand in his. “Thank you for the compliment, Gavin. You are quite right. I do not fit the immaculate description of which you just defined. Most of my History teachers in school were, as you put, ‘old white dudes,' but if you carefully examine the importance of history, you’ll find it quite fascinating.” Evie said in the most scholarly and monotone voice possible, hoping her teasing registered with the group. She received a few chuckles from the left side of the table. “Hopefully I can find something interesting enough to get them engaged in the lesson and led interested in me.”

There was a small whimper coming from her left side. Ashley was still holding Makenzie who was becoming increasingly fussy. Jessica had just managed to fall asleep on Ryan but was woken by the child’s sounds. “I changed and fed her literally 20 minutes ago. The fireworks are far enough away to not wake her, what's wrong?” Ashley asked. “Burnie this is your third child do something.”

“It might be the smell of the gunpowder in the fireworks. My mom told me that always go to me as a kid. It might be best if you bring her inside for a bit.” Evie suggested. “Maybe we can find an area for Jessie too. She looks dead on her feet.” She chuckled slightly as she spoke.

“We have the podcast area set up for the younger kids if you want to put her in there,” Matt chimed in. “Some of the animator’s kids are in there, and I know that Jack’s nephew is sleeping in there too.”

“Jack’s here?” Ryan questioned.

“Yeah, him and his brother volunteered to get more booze,” Lindsay announced.

“I can take Jessie in there. Assuming Ashley is taking Makenzie in, she can show me the way.” Evie directed at Ryan.

“Sounds like a plan,” Ashley responded.

“Are you sure?” Ryan questioned.

“Yup, besides, I’ve been up since 5:30 and I haven’t adjusted to the time zone yet.” Evie reasoned.

“Okay then. Jessie, do you want to go find a place to sleep with Evie?” Ryan whispered to the girl.

“Can Duffy come?” Jessie mumbled back.

“Yes, Duffy can go with you,” Ryan responded kissing his daughter on the crown of her head.

“M-Kay” Evie walked over to the five-year-old.

“Do you want me to give you a piggyback ride?” Evie asked.

“Evie you don’t have to,” Ryan attempted to reason.

“Ryan, she’s tired, and it’s not like she is heavy.” Evie squatted down in front of the girl who immediately wrapped her arms around Evie’s neck Evie took hold of Jessie’s legs and stood. “Shall we?” Evie directed at Ashley.

“We shall,” Ashley responded.

Ashley and Evie took off towards a large brown and tan building labeled 5.

“So how old is she?” Evie asked. “Ryan told me she was under one.”

“She is seven months,” Ashley responded.

“She looks healthy, and she truly is a beautiful baby.” Evie praised.

“Thank you. I’m not sure if you can tell, but I have no idea what I’m doing.” Ashley admitted.

“From the looks of it, you’re doing a great job.” Evie was trying to comfort the woman as best she could.

“I couldn’t even figure out that the smoke was making her upset.” Ashley pressed her ID pass against a scanner which opened a small door leading into the studio.

“You don’t know me; you have no reason to trust anything I say, but please listen. You are doing a fine job, Ashley. All new mothers go through this, and yes seven months counts as new. Newborns are fickle; they can’t tell you what they want or need. You need to have the confidence that you will do everything in your power to make sure that child’s life is the best it can be. It’s okay to mess up every once and a while. This is Burnie’s third kid right?” Evie asked, and Ashley nodded her head, “And do you feel like you are taking this more seriously than he is?” Another nod, “That’s completely normal. He has been through the new kid thing before. But he hasn’t been through it with you. If you feel like the world is crashing down on you, you have to talk to him or, Lindsay, or even me. Talking is the best solution in all cases.”

“I just feel that I’m not doing a good enough job.” Ashley shot back.

“No parent thinks they do the best job. Parenthood like childhood is a learning experience.” Evie responded.

“How do you know so much about this?”

“I practically raised my siblings until we were put in foster care, then I helped raise my foster parent’s kids until I was finally adopted by another family. Suddenly I was the baby of the group. I know it's not the same thing, but it’s semi-relatable.” Evie explained.

They made it to a large room filled with lights and several stages. Ashley directed Evie to a red set with a black leather sofa and two tan and black leather chairs. The floor was a red carpet with a tan rug which had indents signaling that a table was usually placed there. There was a small alcove with two more couches that could be covered by a red curtain. The ground was covered with cushions and blankets with different logos on them.

“Jessie rides over sweetie.” Evie crouched by one of the unoccupied couches and Jessie flopped onto the sofa.

“Miss Evie, can you sing me a song?” Jessie asked sleepily.

“I’m not the best singer, but I can tell you a story instead. Will that work?” Evie responded. Jessie nodded her head.

“This is a story about how humans got fire, is that alright?” Evie asked.

“Fire?”

“Yes, fire. So you know why fire is so important?” Evie asked the tired girl who shook her head. “Well, fire is what keeps you warm. Adults pay money to keep a small fire going so the heater can work, and without fire, you wouldn’t be able to eat.” She explained.

Jessie gasped, “but I like food.” 

Evie giggled, “I like food too. So I wanted to know where the fire came from so we could eat. Would you like to know too?” She received another nod. “Alright, thousands of years ago, there existed a story about the creator of man.”

“Are you sure you should be telling her about religion,” Ashley asked.

“Don’t worry. I may have minored in Christian studies, but I’m not looking to convert people.” Evie responded in a gleeful tone. “Thousands of years ago, the ancient Greeks believed that one extraordinary creature called a titan brought fire down from the sun to earth. The story goes like this:

Back in Ancient Greek times, there was a strange thing called a “sacrifice.” To keep the gods in a good mood, the humans had to pay a price.

The gods were arguing one day, what exactly should that price be? They argued and argued for hours, but they could not agree.

“I know who we should ask for help,” declared the mighty Zeus, “The one who created humans, bring me Prometheus.”

So Prometheus was sent for and he came straight away. Then Zeus asked him what he believed Should be the price to pay.

Prometheus loved the humans; he was their maker after all, so he decided to trick Zeus into making it really small.””

Evie stopped to check if Jessie was asleep yet but to her surprise, she found the girl awake and intently listening to her story. She then turned to see Ashley and a group of kids also listening to her story. Evie smiled and continued.

“He showed two bags, one big, one small, and gave Zeus the choice of the two. Of course Zeus chose the bigger one as Prometheus knew he’d do.

So Zeus was very disappointed when Prometheus showed him that the little one held all the meat, the big one, bones and fat.

But Zeus soon realized he’d been tricked and he was very cross. He thought that it was time to show Prometheus who’s boss.

 “So let the humans have their meat,” Zeus held up his fist and shook it, “I won’t let them have fire so they won’t be able to cook it!”

Prometheus was not impressed at this childish display of spite, and he decided that he would stand up for what was right.

He climbed a mountain, lit a torch from the chariot of Apollo, then took the flame and gave it to the humans down below.”

“But you said that po-meaty-us got fire from the sun!” Jessie accused along with a choir of other children.

“Yes, I did,” Evie affirmed. “Apollo is the Greek god of the sun. It’s his job to pull the sun across the sky, in his chariot every day. Prometheus took some of the sun from the chariot before Apollo could drag it across the sky.”

“But what about-” Jessie started.

“Jessie you need to go to sleep.” Evie cut her off.

“But I’m not” Jessie was cut off by her own yawn, “tired yet.”

“How about this. If you go to sleep now, I will tell you another story tomorrow.”

“Okay!” Jessie said before snuggling with the costumed bear she had yet to let go of. Ashley had put Mac into her baby carrier sometime during the story and wrapped her up in a blanket. Evie draped an Achievement Hunter blanket over Jessie, and the pair walked over to another set that looked like a bar. To Evie’s surprise, Ryan was sitting on a stool waiting for her and Ashley.

“Hey Stud, whacha doin’?” Evie asked as she walked over to Ryan who enveloped her in his strong arms.

“Just listening to the story.” Evie’s face suddenly turned red. “Prometheus, Darlin’, really?” He chuckled.

“Hey, it was the first thing that popped into my head.” Evie justified. Ryan responded with a kiss on Evie’s lips. Evie soon got lost in the kiss, placing one hand in his blond locks and the other resting over the words on his heart.

A through cleared and the new mates quickly broke the kiss. Evie pushed her head into Ryan’s chest; her face beat red from excitement and embarrassment.

“Sorry Ash, we haven’t had any time to ourselves since we met.” Ryan apologized. 

“It’s fine with me, but just remember that there are kids in the other room.”

The group was soon joined by Burnie and the group had a pleasant conversation until the party died down. Soon it was 10 PM and the parties gathered their respective children and got into their cars. Andrew and Jessica asleep before Ryan and Evie could buckle them in. They were soon driving towards their houses, both satisfied with how the night turned out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The poem is by Paul Perro. When I took my Ancient Greece class last semester my professor recommended this website to us. It's a fun and easy way to learn about the myths of Greece. http://www.history-for-kids.com/prometheus.html  
> Please let me know what you think! I would love feedback and engagement. Let me know what you like, what you don't, what you would like to see in the story, etc...


	11. Ryan's Party and House

 “I can take Jessie in there. Assuming Ashley is taking Makenzie in, she can show me the way.” Evie directed at Ryan.

“Sounds like a plan,” Ashley responded.

“Are you sure?” Ryan questioned.

“Yup, besides, I’ve been up since 5:30 and I haven’t adjusted to the time zone yet.” Evie reasoned.

“Okay then. Jessie, do you want to go find a place to sleep with Evie?” Ryan whispered to the girl.

“Can Duffy come?” Jessie mumbled back.

“Yes, Duffy can go with you,” Ryan responded kissing his daughter on the crown of her head.

“M-Kay” Evie walked over to the five-year-old.

“Do you want me to give you a piggyback ride?” Evie asked.

“Evie you don’t have to,” Ryan attempted to reason.

“Ryan, she’s tired, and it’s not like she is heavy.” Evie squatted down in front of the girl who immediately wrapped her arms around Evie’s neck Evie took hold of Jessie’s legs and stood. “Shall we?” Evie directed at Ashley.

“We shall,” Ashley responded.

Ashley and Evie took off towards a large brown and tan building labeled 5.

“So Ryan, how is the mated life?” Burnie asked once the two ladies were out of ear shot.

“It’s,” Ryan paused trying to find the right words, “interesting. That’s the best way to describe it.”

“Ryan the words guy is out of fancy words?” Michael asked sarcastically.

“That’s the best way to describe it,” Ryan defended. “We haven’t really gotten a chance to acquaint ourselves with each other.”

“You were in the car together for 7 hours! You can’t tell me you just sat there twiddling your thumbs.” Lindsay inserted.

“Three and a half of those hours were spent with kids. The rest of the time we listened to AH videos.” Ryan responded. “She was curious about the job.”

“Did you discuss her at all?” Meg asked incredulously.

“Yes. I know that she is going to be teaching at the school across the street. She is the color guard coach in addition to teaching two different kinds of history courses.”

“Color guard, like military color guard?” Burnie asked.

“You’ll have to get her to explain it,” Ryan responded.

“Hey guys, I brought the beer,” a bearded man called as he walked up to their group.

“Hey Jack, I didn’t know you were going to be here. I thought you were hosting again?” Ryan commented.

“No, we didn’t want to deal with the clean up this year.” Jack shrugged, “I thought you were with your new soulmate. Do I owe Geoff and Gavin $100? Did you chicken out!”

“You guys bet on my love life?” Ryan accused.

“What the hell else were we supposed to do when you left?” Michael complained.

“Typical. What was the bet,” Ryan asked.

“Well, Geoff and Gavin bet that you would chicken out,” Jack said.

“Oii, I did no such thing! I bet that you would have just waited until she was in town before going to meet her,” Gavin defended.

“I said that you would meet her, but you would come back alone,” Jack explained.

“Jeremy and I had more faith in you Rye bread. He thought that you would stay the night, but only I thought that you would bring her to meet us.” Michael elaborated. “but now we have to decide who wins.”

“What do you mean? Ryan's back here, doesn’t that mean I won?” Jack speculated.

“No, he brought her with him!” Michael exclaimed.

“Where is she,” Jack asked.

“She and Ash went to stage 5 to but the kids down,” Burnie explained.

“Evie’s been up since 5:30 this morning,” Ryan elaborated. “Plus she has a tiny bit of social anxiety. Almost had a panic attack when she thought she would embarrass me in front of you guys.”

“Why, were a bunch of losers. How could she embarrass herself more than we do ourselves?” Lindsay asked.

“I have no idea. But please, when I bring her in tomorrow, don’t crowd her or anything. I don’t want her to be uncomfortable here.” Ryan pleaded. “Besides, I think she was planning on doing some dissertation research tomorrow.”

“How did you get involved with another doctor?” Gavin asked.

“I’m attracted to smart women, what can I say?” Ryan said in a suave voice. “Hey, I'm going to go check on my girls.”

He exchanged the customary pleasantries and headed over to stage 5. Once inside he started to make his way across the podcast sets but stopped when he heard Evie speaking in rhyme.  

“to show Prometheus who’s boss.”

‘What on earth is she doing?’ Ryan thought to himself as he listened further.

 ““So let the humans have their meat,” Zeus held up his fist and shook it, “I won’t let them have fire so they won’t be able to cook it!”

Prometheus was not impressed at this childish display of spite, and he decided that he would stand up for what was right.

He climbed a mountain, lit a torch from the chariot of Apollo, then took the flame and gave it to the humans down below.”

“But you said that po-meaty-us got fire from the sun!” Ryan heard Jessie and several other voices ask.

“Yes, I did,” Evie affirmed. “Apollo is the Greek god of the sun. It’s his job to pull the sun across the sky, in his chariot every day. Prometheus took some of the sun from the chariot before Apollo could drag it across the sky.”

‘She is actually doing a good job at explaining this to them. And she is keeping them interested!’ He continued to listen.

“But what about-” Jessie started.

“Jessie you need to go to sleep.” Evie cut her off with a light giggle.

“But I’m not” Jessie was cut off by her own yawn, “tired yet.”

“How about this. If you go to sleep now, I will tell you another story tomorrow.” Ryan knew that if Evie promised to do this every night, she would run out of stories by the end of the week. His little girl was very persuasive. 

“Okay!” Jessie said followed by some shuffling and the sound of footsteps. Ryan saw Evie enter the Off Topic set and pause her steps before continuing towards him.

“Hey Stud, whacha doin’?” Evie asked. Ryan who enveloped her in his strong arms.

“Just listening to the story.” Evie’s face turned an adorable shade of pink. “Prometheus, Darlin’, really?” He asked in amusement. He found it curious that she chose to go with mythology instead of princesses or pirates.

“Hey, it was the first thing that popped into my head.” Evie justified, puffing her lip out slightly. Ryan leaned down and pressed a kiss to her lips. He circled her waist with one hand and buried the other hand in her hair. Evie soon got lost in the kiss as well, placing one hand in his hair and the other resting over the words on his heart.

A throat cleared and the new mates quickly broke the kiss. Ryan felt Evie push her head into his chest. He bent his head down and pressed his lips against the crown of her head. 

“Sorry Ash, we haven’t had any time to ourselves since we met.” He apologized. 

“It’s fine with me, but just remember that there are kids in the other room.”

The group was soon joined by Burnie and the group had a pleasant conversation until the party died down. Soon it was 10 PM and the parties gathered their respective children and got into their cars. Andrew and Jessica asleep before Ryan and Evie could buckle them in. They were soon driving towards their houses, both satisfied with how the night turned out.

 

* * *

 

 

Ryan pulled up to the house around 10:15. 6411 Bridgewater drive was a nice house in a nice area. The property was only three miles away from both Rooster Teeth and the Bartholomew learning community. Ryan’s home was a two-story refurbished barn house. The front was covered in light sandy colored stone that complemented the rest of the white exterior. The driveway was a lighter color than the surrounding pavement and led to a two-car garage. There was yard space on both sides of the house, perfect for the animals and children to play.

On the left was a lot surrounded by a chain-link fence that led to a slightly forested area. To the right, separated by a brown wooden fence, was Evie's temporary living arrangements.

The house Rae and Ben were renting was a one-story house. The front was covered in bricks while the rest of the house was white wood. The porch had two doors which led into two different living spaces so multiple tenants could live there.

Evie helped Ryan bring the kids out of the car and into the house. Ryan opened the front door, and Evie was greeted to a nice open floor plan. The living room transitioned into a kitchen with a moderately sized table just poking out from behind the stairs, which were to the immediate right of the front door. The interior walls were a soft off white color that complemented the light carpet color.

Ryan placed his keys on a hall tree to the left of the door and led Evie up the stairs.

“Jessie’s room is to the right,” Ryan whispered pointing to a short hallway with 3 doors.

She opened the door and turned on the lights. The girl’s room was painted a light sky blue. Celling was standard white, but Evie could see the faint greenish-yellow tint of glow in the dark stars. She pulled back the covers and placed the five-year-old on the bed. She carefully pulled off the girl’s shoes and placed the down next to her closet. Not sure what to do next, Evie searched the upper floor for Ryan. She found him exiting what she guessed was Drew’s room and met him at the top of the stairs.

“I wasn’t sure if you wanted me to change her into sleeping clothes, so I left her under the covers in her day clothes.”

“That’s fine,” Ryan replied. “I don’t want to wake her again by jostling her around.” The two headed downstairs. “So, before the night is over I think we need to cover some things.”

“Sleeping Arraignments, right?” Evie knew where this was going.

“Right. Since we aren’t going to complete the bond right now, we will need to spend as much time together as possible. We already established that you would go to work with me, so now we need to figure out if you are going to sleep with me, or not.” Ryan explained.

“The illusory bond only builds up if we are touching, right?” Evie asked.

 “It’s stronger if we touch, but the bond will still form if we are in close proximity of each other,” he clarified. “Remember, nothing happens here unless you’re comfortable with it.”

“We have already fallen asleep together before, so this shouldn’t be any different, right?” She rationalized.

Ryan smiled, “I’ll go get your things from the car and then we can settle down for the night.”

While Ryan was out getting her suitcase, Evie unlaced her high tops. She set the next to the door and looked around the living room area. One thing that caught her eye was that the furniture didn’t match the rest of the house. The room had two black sofas and a pure white table, all of which looked out of place against the cream walls. The upon further inspection, the dents in the rug didn’t match the size or shape of the white table. ‘Ryan must be doing some redecorating,’ Evie thought.

The front door opened, and Ryan trudged in with her suitcase in hand. “Alright, let's get this upstairs, and I’ll give you the tour.” The pair made their way up the stairs and took a left.

The master bedroom was spacious. A California king rested in the center with a nightstand on each side of the bed. Windows framed the space allowing the moonlight to peer in. The left side of the room contained a short set of stairs that led up to a walk-in closet and the master bathroom. There was a dresser with a few knick-knacks on it, and a single black sock caught in one of the drawers. Ryan set Evie’s suitcase on a small bench at the foot of the bed.

“As you can see, the bathroom is up the steps,” Ryan started. “Jessie and Drew’s rooms are down that hall on the right of the stairs, along with another bathroom. The room at the top of the stairs is my office.” Ryan directed them through the house and down the stairs. “Here is a greeting/playroom that leads into the kitchen. Past the kitchen is a family room. To the left you can see the back yard. If you go far enough past the tree like you will get to a small creek. It’s usually dry, but we had an uncharacteristically wet winter last year. On the right through the hallway leading to the garage is a half-bath on one side and the laundry room on the other.” They moved back upstairs. “And, that’s the house.”

“It really is a lovely house,” Evie responded.

“I’m about to start some minor renovations. The entry way is going to be hardwood, and the carpets need cleaning. I'm going to repaint the walls.” Ryan listed.

What color are they going to be?” Evie started looking through her suitcase for some suitable clothes. ‘I don’t think my sports bra and spandex will work tonight,’ Evie thought.

“I'm thinking a light gray. I’ve been wanting to repaint since I bought the house but Brittny liked the color.” Ryan complained.

Evie looked over to Ryan who was getting his own clothes out of the drawers. “Hey Ryan,” Evie started. Ryan looked over to a very flushed Evie. “Do you have anything I could wear to bed? When I packed, I thought I would be going to bed alone. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.” The blush on Evie’s cheeks grew more vibrant the longer she spoke.

“Sure, would a T-shirt be okay?” Ryan said as he grabbed a random shirt from a drawer.

“Yeah, that’s fine.” Ryan handed her a black T-shirt, the front of the shirt featured a face with a white top hat, monocle, and fluff mustache. The words “Team Gents” rested below the face but above two glasses clinging together. “Thanks, Stud. I’m going to go change in the restroom.”

Evie scampered up the three steps and turned to the right through a door that held a toilet and a shower. She changed into her black CSUF sports bra and shorts before slipping the “Team Gents” shirt over her head. She laughed as the shirt hit the back of her knees. Evie had been short her entire life, but this was ridiculous. Evie grabbed her clothes and made her way out into the bedroom.

It seemed like Ryan had picked up on her nervousness and was changing in the closet. Evie put her old clothes in a side compartment of her suitcase. She looked in the mirror on the dresser and saw her reflection drowning in fabric. She danced around from foot to foot, seeing how the dress like shirt moved. She suddenly saw Ryan leaning against the wall across from the closet in the mirror’s reflection and jumped a mile onto the bed.

Ryan took a modest approach to his night dress. He was clothed in an old black shirt with a green star with a black joystick cut out of the center. The star was surrounded by a circle, and the word achievement hunter were written around it. His pants were a black and red plaid.

“Are you always this jumpy?” Ryan chuckled.

“Not usually. I guess I'm just tired.” Evie replied. Ryan pulled back the sheets and entered the bed. Evie tentatively did the same. ‘Evie, you have already slept together, get over it. Wait that didn’t sound right.’ Evie internally struggled, before climbing in on the other side. “What time do we have to be up tomorrow?” Evie yawned.

“The kids have summer camp at 9 AM,” Ryan replied. “I’ll get the kids up at 8, and we can leave at 8:45. Their camp is at the school, so I was planning just to go to work after I drop them off, but if you want we could go to breakfast after words.”

“I’m not one for big breakfasts, but we could go out to lunch on your break,” Evie suggested.

“Sounds good. Do you want me to wake you at a specific time?” Ryan asked.

“If I'm not up by 8:30 can you wake me? It takes me like 10 minutes to get ready.”

“You don’t know how incredibly sexy that is,” Ryan chuckled, turning onto his right side. He put one arm under his pillow closed his eyes. Evie scooted closer to Ryan and closed her eyes, leaving a small space in between them.

 

* * *

 

 

“Evie, Darlin’ its time to wake up.” Evie felt a hand on her shoulder and a light pressure on the top of her head. As she came to Ryan was kneeling to the side of her, rousing her from sleep. “Come on Darlin’ its almost 8:30.”

Evie opened her eyes and stretched her arms above her head, and arched her back. “Mornin’ Stud,” She called out.

“You slept like a rock last night,” Ryan commented.

“I guess I was just catching up on some sleep. I'm usually up before the sun.” Evie walked over to her bag and took out her Adderall and clothes for the day. “Your company have a dress code?” she called from her bag.

“Nope, just wear something casual.” He called back while heading down the stairs.

Evie brought out a pair of shorts and a blue heather tank top that said: “keep calm and point your toes.” She traditionally wore it to all the first performances of the season at her old jobs. Going into the bathroom, she quickly took a pill and a half with water and continued to take care of all her personal affairs. She dressed and folded up the “Team Gent” shirt, placing it on the bed. She brushed her hair quickly then grabbed her laptop and convertible holster bag and left down the stairs.

Ryan saw what she was wearing and told her to grab a jacket because the air was supposed to be fixed in the office today. She grabbed her slipknot jacket and met the group downstairs by the door at 8:43. “13 minutes, impressive.” Ryan praised.

“Thanks. Morning guys.” Evie smiled and greeted the children. They both mumbled good morning back and lugged themselves to the car. Evie chuckled and followed suit.

‘Today is going to be a good day!’ Evie thought to herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, the poem is by Paul Perro. http://www.history-for-kids.com/prometheus.html  
> Please let me know what you think! I would love feedback and engagement. Let me know what you like, what you don't, what you would like to see in the story, etc...  
> Next chapter will be Evie's first interaction with all of AH!


	12. Shenanigans

“Hey Ryan, I need to stop by the front office real quick. Do you want to wait here, or come with, or I can walk across the street?” Evie said as Ryan was getting his kids out of their seats.

“I’ll get the kids off to camp and wait for you here,” Ryan replied.

“Have a great day today guys!” Evie said cheerfully before walking into the front office. She walked up to the receptionist and greeted her.

“Hello there, my name is Everette Douglas. I'm one of the new history teachers and the new color guard coach. I was told to stop in to get the keys to my classroom, the band room, and both locker rooms.” The receptionist looked Evie up and down. She pulled out her ID to give to the lady. “I do have identification, ma’am.”

“Thank you, but I’ll have to review this information carefully before I can give you access to the facilities.” She said in a snarky tone.

 _‘No shit, just photo copy my license and let me be on my way.’_ Evie said internally. “I expected as much. I just wanted to get this process started so I can set up my classroom early.” She explained.

“While your enthusiasm is noted, you have not been verified as an academic leader,” The receptionist quipped.

 _‘What kind of receptionist talks like this?’_ Evie’s inner monolog continued. “I understand that. If you would like to take a photo copy of my license for your records, that is more than okay. I could come back later today to get my keys. I mean if that is convenient for you.”

“I’m a very busy woman Everett; it will take some time to have your keys ready.” The receptionist looked Evie up and down again.

“That’s fine. I’ll be here all week. I’ll check in again later this afternoon to see if they are ready.” Evie told the bitchy receptionist. “Now if you will please photocopy my license and return it, I’ll be on my way. I have a lot of research to do today.” The receptionist scanned and returned her license. “Have a splendid day.” Evie turned to walk out the door.

“Make sure you’re in appropriate attire next time you come in.”

Evie paused and turned to look at the receptionist thinking, _‘Are you seriously going to judge me for wearing shorts during summer in Texas while you’re here with your cleavage on display for the world to see?’_

With the patience of a saint, Evie replied, “I’ll take that into consideration,” and exited the building.

“Well, that didn’t take as long as I thought it would,” Ryan called as he Saw Evie walk up to the car.

“I need to come back later,” Evie replied. “Maybe contact the district,” She grumbled under her breath.

“What was that?” Ryan asked.

“Oh, I just need to contact the district, that’s all,” Evie said.

The pair entered the jeep and drove a torturous 100 yards across the street to get to Ryan’s office. Ryan parked the car, checked that he had everything he needed and headed to the large concrete structure with Evie trailing behind him.

Ryan hooked his sunglasses to the front of his shirt and reached behind him to grab Evie’s hand. The pair had gotten into the habit of holding hands everywhere they went. If they weren’t holding hands, they were standing no more than a foot from each other.

Ryan led Evie past the familiar monolith that was Stage 5 to a smaller building just beside it. Evie watched as he pressed his key card up to the scanner and heard the click of bolts unlocking. Upon opening the door, Evie was led into a hallway with one hastily thrown together doors on one side and a more permanent set of doors on the other. The right side was entirely made out of plywood giving some light décor to the once blighted area.

“So what’s with the wood?” Evie asked as they walked down the makeshift hallway.

“The company rents this space, so big renovations are out of the question,” Ryan explained as the took a right towards a kitchen area. “We needed more offices, so our set, prop, and all around builder of things guy Markus designed them.” They reached a fridge stocked with various beers, energy drinks, and a full shelf dedicated to Diet Coke. “Want one?”

“Aspartame for breakfast, hell yes.” Evie joked, enthusiastically taking the two beverages from Ryan. The pair then walked back down the hallway, Ryan grabbing two packets of cheese-its for themselves. /he handed one to Evie and kept one for himself, holding the top of the soda can with the snack bag pressed up against it with his middle and index fingers.

He stopped them in front of the very first door before the entrance/exit and turned to her. “Now it’s generally quiet in here unless we are making a video. If it gets too loud or too hard to concentrate, let me know, and I can set you up in Gavin’s office.”

“I’m sure it will be okay. I’ve written ten-page papers at a high school pep rally before; this should be easy.” Evie replied.

She regretted her words the minute she stepped into the Achievement Hunter office. Ryan blazed forward opening the door and stepping inside; his steady strides faltered slightly upon the witnessing the sight before him. Evie entered not two seconds after and froze mid step. She cocked her head to the side with a smirk and furrowed her brows at what was happening in front of her, then continued to follow Ryan as he maneuvered around the scene.

She heard a short man in the process of moving various pieces of equipment off what Evie assumed was a desk say “Hey what’s up to Ryan?”

Ryan who had slowed down his pace to gawk at the situation replied, “What’s ahh” he paused as he surveyed the scene, “what happened there?”

The shorter man continued “Oh you know,” at which point Michael, whom Evie remembered from the previous night, replied over the other man in a very matter of fact way, “His desk got shorter.” 

Shorty continued “stuff, stuff happens. My desk just got scared, so he huddled down over here.”

Evie's laugh was covered by Ryan’s immediate, “Just shrunk down.” Ryan and Evie had managed to get past the danger zone and rounded the next desk.

“Yeah, he crouched down.” Evie noticed a slight twang to the word crouched.

“Uh, I mean,” Ryan said, trying to tell the small man that something was going on with his computer. Michael replied with “the shift key is stuck,” and motioned with two fingers. “And Ryan,” he continued, “everything was working.”

“That’s impressive,” Evie chimed in. Shorty still not noticing her presence beside the blond tech wizard.

“He just started disassembling it himself,” Michael said observing her presence.

“Right, so then I could pick it up, and then I plan on...” The man motioned to a small wooden filing cabinet that was once the home of said desk on the floor.

“I suggested just waiting till more people came in.” Michael continued. “So he wouldn’t disassemble it, but he’s committed to doing it himself.”

Ryan responded, “Yeah it's probably easier to just pick it up.”

“That’s what I said,” Michael confirmed. Evie set down her drink and snack on Ryan’s desk before walking back over to the chaos on the ground. The white desk was laying on a tangle of chords, green headphones, and God knew what else. To the side sat a monitor and a monitor stand. His chair was strewn about in two pieces, the wheels to the right of the filing cabinet and the physical chair just in front of the mess on the floor. A small box with the words helps box lay in between the two pieces. Evie reached down into the help box and pulled out a screwdriver and some screws that looked like they belonged to the chair as Michael continued “he’s like ‘nobody will help me.’”

Ryan looking over at Evie who had already lifted the wheels of the chair over to the negative space between the green wall and the desk fragments said: “Evie and I will help you Lil J.”

 _‘This must be the Jeremy that replaced Ryan’s co-worker Ray.’_ Evie thought.

“Yeah,” Jeremy said skeptical of the help, not fully registering what was said. “But I want to lighten it.”  He paced back and forth in his little square foot of space.  Evie had now moved both chair pieces to the couch where she placed the seat on top of the wheels and started tightening screws. “I-I’ll-I’ll squeeze in here.” Jeremy walked over towards Michael’s desk, the owner of which had now moved to help Jeremy lift along with Ryan.

“I’m dangerously close to your dick,” Michael said as he hunched over and made hand motions like he was helping.

 _‘Well, that’s not something you hear in a workplace that often.’_ Evie who had completed fixing the chair thought. She observed the scene from the comfortable swivel chair, chuckling every so often at the ridiculousness that was unraveling in front of her.

“That’s fine,” Jeremy replied to Michael.

“I mean. It’s fine for you.” Michael commented.

“Well, yeah,” Jeremy said nonchalantly.

Evie got off the chair and took a seat in a red beanbag chair in the corner. She had an excellent view of Michael and Jeremy lifting the downed table. Her view of Ryan was even more perfect. As the three raised the table, she could see Ryan’s bi and triceps bulging at the slight strain. His posture caused him to bend his legs and straighten his back, pushing out his rear end slightly. Evie would be lying if she said that she hadn’t checked out Ryan’s ass at least once during this whole endeavor. Ryan braced the table while Lil J gathered up the necessary parts from the help box to screwed in the table legs.

Suddenly a “Whoa” followed by a walrus-like moan broke through the muttering in the room.

“Umm, okay,” Jeremy said in connection to the noise. Michael looked around the room, and his eyes fell on Evie, who just cocked her head and shrugged her shoulders

“I don’t think I’ve ever made a noise like that; I don’t think,” Ryan confessed, still holding the desk. “Whatever that was that came out of me.”

Evie, feeling playful, once again got up from her seat and headed for Ryan’s. She placed a hand on his shoulder and whispered “I enjoyed the view stud,” pressing a quick kiss on his cheek and continued to his desk, popping the tab of one of the cokes as she sat in his chair.  Ryan’s attention wavered off of the task at hand for a few seconds taking his time watching Evie walk by.

“Ryan,” Jeremy moaned.

“Sorry Lil J.”

“I can’t find where these screws go in,” Jeremy complained. Michael had wandered over to Evie and watched the two struggle.

Ryan replied with “Screws goes in holes.” Which puzzled Evie for a brief second before she heard Jeremy reply “Yeah, they do, you know, unless they go in the wrong holes.” To which Ryan replied, “Well put it in the right holes.”

Michael chimed in next with “Hey make- or make new ones.”

Ryan continued beleaguering Jeremy by saying “Take some pride in your Goddamn work.”

Their exchange fascinated Evie so much as she had only seen the well-spoken side of Ryan so far. They continued bantering while Jeremy finished screwing in the last leg, wrapping all his cords in a tangled mess around the desk leg. Jeremy commented that unwrapping them would be the future Jeremy’s problem.

Ryan bent down to look in the help box and grabbed the screwdriver Evie had used to fix the chair. “Now this is what annoys me. They used my tools. Don’t take my tools,” he said like a three-year-old.

“Shit man.” Michael said in an uninterested voice. “that went 10ft.”

“Yeah,” Ryan started making some sort of sound that was a mix between well and alright. “But if I hadn’t seen it, It would have just been gone to me.” Ryan then walked over to Evie who was still in his chair drinking her diet coke. He placed the tool on his table and proceeded to lift Evie up bride style. Evie shocked hooked both her arms around his neck accidentally pressing the cold drink on his neck. He proceeded to plop them both down unceremoniously onto his chair, Evie laughing once she settled. “That wasn’t nice.” He pouted.

“Well neither was picking me up so suddenly,” She replied in a sassy tone. Ryan placed a quick, chaste kiss on her lips, aware of the others in the room and then pulled in his chair, trapping her on his lap.

Soon more people entered the office, a dark-skinned woman with bubblegum pink streaks in her hair stood smiling at Jeremy’s muttering. She soon left and moments later a familiar face wearing a plain gray shirt and darker blue jeans, holding an orange juice and what looked like a breakfast taco and hash browns entered cautiously. The Brit had the biggest shit eating grin on his face as he sauntered up to his own desk.

“Sup Boi!” Michael shouted.

“Ehh oh,” Gavin replied.

“Jeremy’s desk got floored” Michael explained.

“It got wot?”

“Got floored.” Michael reiterated.

“Oh,” Gavin replied.

“It’s drifted,” Michael said as Jeremy turned to throw his broken chair, but stopped short.

“What the fuck?” Jeremy asked looking at Michael who put his hands up. Ryan who still hadn’t released Evie was telling her more about his job, showing her programs and the like. “Um, who is that?” Jeremy gestured over to Ryan and Evie. He saw Ryan whisper something Evie's ear that she chuckled at.

“So, um… Shenanigans,” Evie said loud enough for the webcam mics to pick up, as per instruction. The room was so silent that you could hear a pin drop.

Suddenly, the room erupted into laughter. Gavin was collapsed at his desk, Michael threw his head back and howled, and Ryan held Evie closer and buried his head in her neck to muffle his laughter. Even Jeremy laughed though his annoyed state. The laughter lasted for what seemed like hours, but in reality, was only a minute or two.

“No but seriously who is that and why is she on your lap?” Jeremy asked when the laughter died down.

“Really Jeremy?” Gavin asked incredulously.

“Oh that’s the girl,” Jeremy noted.

“No, she’s my sister,” Ryan responded sarcastically. “Of course, it’s her!”

“She also fixed your chair before Ryan offered you help,” Michael inserted.

“Oh shit, no joke?” Jeremy whipped his head around to Evie who had wrangled herself off of Ryan’s lap. “Thank you!”

“Don’t mention it,” Evie shrugged. “It’s the least I could do since I laughed at your misery too.”

“So wait. Michael won the bet!” Jeremy exclaimed. Evie looked at Ryan for an answer.

“They put a bet on whether or not I would go to the lake house,” Ryan explained.

“And I said that he would bring you to meet us today,” Michael proclaimed. 

“I’m surprised it was that tame honestly,” Evie said. “I mean Rae bet Ben that I would fuck you as soon as we were alone,” They all looked at her like she was insane.

“Isn’t she your best friend?” Ryan asked, knowing that Evie was still a blushing virgin.

“I think it was more of a confidence boost than anything,” Evie shrugged.

“Birds are weird,” Gavin said out of nowhere.

“I agree,” Evie said laughing.

The door opened, and a man with a luxurious red beard walked in, “Morning.”

“Hey Jack,” a chorus of voices sounded.

“Is this her?” Jack asked.

 _‘What is it with these guys and asking about me like I’m not here’_ Evie thought. “If you mean the soulmate, then yes this is she.” Evie quipped. Evie set up her mini workstation and sat down on the chair that Ryan had rolled over for her.

“Wait what's going on?” Jack confused as to why Evie was in the office, set up like she was an intern. A heavily tattooed man walked in as Jack was asking the question.

“Oh shit.”

“I’m…Sorry,” Evie tentatively said to the tattooed man.

“Oh, not you. I just owe Michael 100 bucks.” He replied.

“So Geoff,” Michael started, “Do I still get the money if he didn’t spend the night at the lake house?”

“What do you mean?” Geoff asked.

“Ryan do you want to explain or do I,” Evie asked.

“The floor is yours Darlin’” Ryan gestured.

“So long story short, his Ex needed him to pick up the kids; I didn’t want to have sex immediately after meeting so I went with him. Before we left the lake house we realized that I would be gone for a week and because I'm a prude I’m not comfortable bonding before I need to leave, so we need to spend as much time together so we can form an illusory bond so we both don’t feel crippling regret and emptiness when I’m in California.” Evie explained. “He also said that you would be all right with it as long as I don’t interrupt your workflow.”

“Well okay then,” Geoff said. “I will warn you that you may be put in stupid videos on the internet.”

“As long as I don’t lose my job or anything then I don’t mind.” Evie shrugged.

“Okay then, let's get to work!” Geoff commanded.

“Remember if you need anything just ask,” Ryan said as he turned to Evie, immediately becoming suspicious as he saw a mischievous smirk on her face.

“Thanks, stud,” Evie said loud enough for the room to hear. The room filled with multiple snickers and the murmurs of the word stud.

Ryan rolled his seat back to hers, “you know they are going to be calling me that all day right?”

“Hey, I'm stuck in this office. I need a little entertainment too,” Evie justified.

Looking back at her dissertation she started to write:

 _Napoleon once asked, “What then is, generally speaking, the truth of history? A fable agreed upon?...And what will be the case if the narrators_ be _not sincere, or if they should be actuated by interest or passions?”[1] This famous line has been quoted by journalists, politicians, and scholars throughout the years, because of its fidelity. History is made up of stories. While there may be multiple sides to a story, the winners decide which side is allowed to survive. This concept could not be more suited to fit the events of the end of the Carthaginian Empire and its most famous general Hannibal. The purpose of this paper is to back up the claim that instead of depicting General and suffete Hannibal of Carthage as objectively as possible, Roman writers depict him in an iniquitous way as to fit an ideal villain archetype to make Rome look more powerful. This paper will give a brief description of the early life of Hannibal and the way which he killed himself, as well as a look into the destruction of Carthage. It will explore the various works of Titus Livius and Polybius of Megalopolis as the main sources of information on Hannibal, along with Cornelius Nepos, Silius Italicus, and Publius Vergilius Maro. It will define the Roman villain and hero archetypes in comparison to Hannibal and Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus with reference to Roman works and myths that were written after Hannibal’s downfall._

 

_[1] Emmanuel-August-Dieudonné de Las Cases, Mémorial de Sainte Hélène: Journal of the Private Life and Conversations of the Emperor Napoleon at Saint Helena, Vol. 4, Part 7 (London, 1823), pp. 250-252._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you think! I would love feedback and engagement. Let me know what you like, what you don't, what you would like to see in the story, etc...


	13. Just a Normal Summer Day

**Ch. 13- Just a Normal Summer Day**

Evie tried so hard to focus on her dissertation but to no avail. She was fascinated by every site and sound around her. The Achievement Hunter office was a fairly large space, but you wouldn’t be able to tell that with all the random shit they had lying around. The back and right wall, if you were entering the room, were covered in a black curtain. Numerous bookshelves containing hand drawn pictures, action fingers, plushies, trophies, and various other seemingly breakable items lay against the black background. Behind Ryan, there was a single, segmented, yellow and black shelving unit that contained much of the same contents. Behind Jack in the back corner of the room lay a white bookcase used to store multiple copies of different video games. Both Ryan and Geoff had behind them a spare workstation that contained two monitors, an X-box One, and recording equipment.

The wall behind the lads, whom Evie learned about from Ryan’s explanation of the Gents shirt, was a bright green that was somewhere in the lime or neon family. The white couch Evie had migrated to during the morning’s shenanigans was pushed back against the wall. It was covered by a brown fence-like headboard. Attached to the wood were posters, more fan submitted pictures, and various weapons; some wieldable some not. In addition, similar to the yellow and black shelving unit, a yellow and black knit blanket lay covering half of a board titled “Pizza Party Version 3.”  On the adjacent wall was a whiteboard with a list of videos and ideas to film.

Evie sat at the spare workstation behind Ryan's desk for two reasons. The first being, obviously, it was the closest to Ryan, and second, it seemed like the cleanest area in the room.

She was able to get around a page and a half of her thesis written before the first major intermission happened. She heard several murmurs throughout the morning after the desk situation but nothing too disruptive until, “I'm telling you, she is taller than Jeremy.”

She was currently translating a passage from Titus Livius’ “Urbe Condita Libri” when she heard the statement.

“I don’t know Geoff, Lil J’s short, but I don’t think he is that short.”

Evie paused for a second, effectively losing her place in the passage.

“Hey, Gavin.”

“Yeah, Boi?”

“Who do you think is taller, Lil J or Evie?”

Evie attempted to relocate her place back in the passage.

“I don’t know. They’re both rather short.” Gavin replied.

“If you had to pick one,” Michael prompted.

“You do know that both Jeremy and I are in the room, right? You could easily just ask us our heights,” Evie interrupted their conversation.

“Well, we know how short Jeremy is,” Michael started “But we weren’t sure how tall you were.”

“And you didn’t think to ask how tall I was?” Evie asked.

“But where’s the fun in that!” Geoff exclaimed.

“Alright, I’ll bite. I need a break anyway,” Evie saved her paper on both her computer and a separate flash drive before uploading it to Google Docs. Computers seemed to hate her or her history papers; Evie wasn’t sure which one it was. “How tall would you say I am.” Evie stood to give them a better perspective.

“Ryan stand next to her,” Geoff demanded.

“How did I get pulled into this,” Ryan asked as he pulled off his headphones.

“Because we know how tall you are and she’s your girlfriend,” Gavin replied for Geoff.

Ryan pushed back his chair and stood behind Evie. He took this opportunity to pull her close, his chin resting perfectly atop of her head. He slumped his posture slightly so that their marks rested against one another, giving the couple a feeling of completion. Evie chuckled at Ryan’s behavior and leaned back into his embrace.

“Okay, enough with the mushy crap.” Geoff interrupted, “Stand up straight.” The couple begrudgingly straightened out their postures. Their soulmarks missing each other by mere inches.

Everything about Ryan and Evie was in contrast. Ryan stood at a commanding 6ft, his blond hair feathery, and blue eyes shining. His stature lied somewhere between bulky and fit with his arms and legs kept retaining most of the muscle in his body. Evie, on the other hand, was a brown hair, brown eyed beauty. The top of her head rested just above Ryan’s shoulders, about half way up his neck. Her strong shoulders stood prominent, and her core and calves held most of her muscle structure.

“Jesus she’s short,” Michael exclaimed.

“Hey,” Evie pouted, “I'm not short, I’m fun-sized.”

Her statement was met with a mixture of laughter and groans.

“Jeremy go stand by Evie,” Gavin commanded.

“Ugg, why are we doing this,” Jeremy asked as he got up and walked over to Evie and Ryan.

“This is important!” Gavin replied.

“Let’s just get this over with,” Evie said. “Jeremy stand here.” Evie gestured over to where she was standing. Jeremy walked over as Ryan moved out of the way. “Hold on a second Ryan,” Evie said as she grabbed his hand.

“Uh,” Ryan looked at her confused. She just pulled him back to his original spot. Ryan took her silent cue and wrapped his arms around Jeremy mimicking his movements from earlier.

“Now who do you think is taller,” Evie asked through her chuckles as she covertly took out her and snapped a picture. 

 “Ryan, are we Titanicing?” Jeremy squeaked. To which Ryan replied, “I’ll never let go Jeremy.” 

“Never let go Ryan.” Jeremy joined in before Ryan let go. “No Ryan you let go!” Jeremy yelled.

“So how tall are you,” Ryan asked her.

“I'm around 5’4,” Evie replied.

“Okay, Jeremy and Evie stand back to back,” Geoff said.

“You’re 5’4?” Evie asked Jeremy.

“Yes,” he sighed.

They stood back to back and were surrounded by people with flat objects.

“Okay, survey says,” Geoff paused for dramatic effect, “Jeremy Dooley…You are…taller than Ryan’s girlfriend.” Jeremy jumped with joy at the news.

 _‘Eh, I'm used to it.’_ Evie shrugged mentally. 

“Alright let’s get back on track,” Lindsay, who Evie didn’t even see walk in, commanded. “Jeremy you have to go do merch photos, Michael you need to play a round or two of Dead by Daylight to test the connection issues. Ryan, Geoff, Jack, and Gavin, you guys, are playing overcooked. Any questions?” Lindsay successfully commanded the room. “Perfect, let’s get going.”

“Damn Lindsay’s impressive in work mode,” Evie commented to Ryan.

“Yeah, she’s gotten more confident since she took over Geoff’s management position,” Ryan said back.

Ryan, Geoff, Jack, and Gavin gathered around a monitor that Jack had set up. Evie decided to sit and watch behind them. She couldn’t really do any more work without her notes she left at home, or the attention span she currently held.

Jeremy had left the room during the transition to go take pictures with some merch.

“You know what would have been funnier that lowering his desk,” Evie told Ryan in a hushed voice, “Raising his desk.”

“That’s evil,” Ryan replied, “I'll mention it to Geoff later. Maybe we can make a video out of it.”

The group sat down to play the game Overcooked. They took their turns syncing their audio and proceeded to start the game.

“Alright what is this Ryan,” Jack asked. The screen he was watching featured cartoon Armageddon. The buildings were silhouetted, and on fire, the sky was red, and meteorites hurdled towards the animated city. 

“This is overcooked,” Ryan said in a very matter of fact way, “The newest game by team 17.” Both Gavin and Jack mentioned that it was the studio that made worms, which Ryan confirmed. “Alright the first thing we do is eat the dog,” Evie was taken aback for a second before she erupted into a fit of silent giggles.

“Don’t eat the dog!” Gavin said

“If we don’t eat that dog a rattlesnake will,” Geoff argued.

“It’s true,” Ryan supported, “Let’s eat Kevin.”

‘ _Note to self: don’t leave Ryan alone with my dog,_ ’ Evie mused to herself.

The video continued, and Evie found herself fascinated with the process. Evie not wanting to interrupt the video had to back up away from the group in order to avoid pointing out what she felt should have been obvious like the fact that there were orders at the top of the screen when feeding Ever Peckish, or that there was a timer for the round. What caused her the most frustration, however, was the fact that they didn’t understand that you could combine items to make a complete entrée.

She could now see why people would enjoy watching something like this. The four men were able to riff off of each other seamlessly. The mechanics of the game were simple enough that the player would be able to fall into monotony, but as soon as one person deviated from their task, the room erupted into chaos.

Any will power Evie had to continue her research was lost in a fit of giggles and laughter at the antics of the men in the room. Before she knew it, the game was over and 40 minutes had passed. She looked at the video board and saw that on the docket for today, was Overcooked, Rocket league (the video had a lightning bolt symbol beside it for some reason), and Dead by Daylight part 2 and 3.

 The team had just finished their first, technically second, video of the day and it was time for lunch.

“So, what’s for lunch?” Geoff asked as he pushed away from his desk.

“Evie and I were planning to go out, but we hadn’t decided where ” Ryan replied.

“Evie, you’ve been here for two days right?” Jack asked.

“More or less,” Evie replied.

“What have you had to eat since you’ve been here,” Jack listened intently for her answer.

“Um, I’ve had this one BBQ place, Opie’s, but everything else has been home cooked,” Evie said. “Last night we had some drive-through burgers, I don’t remember where.”

“You haven’t been to an Austin restaurant or food truck yet?” Jack sounded genuinely offended at the idea that Evie hadn’t tried any local cuisine.

Evie shook her head in response. “It’s not live I’ve had time to show her around town Jack,” Ryan defended.

“Well, where are you taking her today?”

“I don’t know Jack; we haven’t had a chance to talk about it. Besides it’s not like we can go exploring today since Craig and the Screw Attack guys are here after lunch.” Ryan said.

“Why don’t we get Torchy’s,” Jack suggested. “It’s this local taco place. We won’t go to the original locations because that’s across town, but they have a location literally up the road.”

“We wo-” Ryan started.

“That sounds like fun,” Evie interrupted. “Why don’t you guys go ahead, I just need to talk to Ryan about setting up in Gavin’s office.” She noted the disappointed look on his face.

 “Sounds good,” Jack said and headed for the door. Geoff sauntered up to Ryan and clapped him on the shoulder.

“We’ll keep him occupied for you guys,” Geoff said and followed Jack. Michael and Gavin decided to go elsewhere, and Evie wasn’t sure where Jeremy was.

Evie walked over to Ryan and apologized. “Sorry for not consulting you on this. I just figured it would be easier to go along with him.” Evie grasped Ryan's hand and started to pull him over to her laptop. “Now I was serious. If I stay in here, I’ll never get anything done.”

“You know, we could just tell them that it will take longer to set up your stuff than we hopped and have them bring back food,” Ryan suggested cheekily. He pulled her close and placed his hands on the small of her back.

“Ryan Haywood how devious of you,” Evie said with an equal level of sass.

“More importantly, Gavin’s office has no windows,” Ryan said and hoisted her into his arms, carrying her out the door and to the left. He entered the support room with a giggling Evie thrown over his shoulder. They both ignored the looks they received walking the short distance down the hall, lost in the feeling of being together. Ryan carried her into Gavin’s office and set her down on the chair and closed the door.

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know what you think. I am accustomed to writing research papers, not stories.  
> This work has no beta. If anyone is interested, feel free to contact me.


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